Inevitable Wings of Fate
by BloodKitsune11
Summary: ...but they still haven't heard from Sandaime-sama, which was unnerving for most civilians and shinobi alike." CHAPTER 27 & 28 FINALLY UP! Rated 'T' for safety!
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

Hey!!! I was thinking that I wanted to publish this story here I have been making here for the past... I dunno... months?? Anyway, I hope you like it!!!

TOWARDS THE FIC, I SAY!!!!

Disclaimer: **[insert funny 'i don't own' disclaimer here]

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The crackling of fire filled the air and the faint swishes of quick movement were also heard. The Yondaime Hokage basically flew through the air, under his white and red-flamed cloak and from the torn back of the Jounin jacket under the cloak, a pair of ash and midnight blue-hued feathered wings beat as he tried to get as close as possible to the demon fox terrorizing Konohagakure no Sato. On the hands of the young Kage was a newborn baby who was the spitting image of the Yondaime, except for the three whisker marks on each cheek and the not yet developed wings.

"Minato, stop right now!" a voice came from behind the blonde Kage, now known as Minato Namikaze. There stood a man with long, white spiky hair, red tear-like lines from the edges of his eyes, and a metal head band with the kanji for "oil" engraved in black.

"Jiraiya-sensei," he frowned, "You know as well as me that this is the only way to stop the Kyuubi no Youko from destroying Konoha completely," he folded his wings under the cloak.

Jiraiya sighed and looked directly at the eyes of Minato, not once gasping at the sight of his wings; after all, he was his sensei. "This will cause some problems in the future for the boy, gaki. This is a burden that may cause him to have a lonely life, even more if he lost both his parents."

"It has to be done, sensei," he turned towards the Kyuubi and flew off again, one feather loosened and floated down to the stained earth.

Jiraiya took the feather and looked as Minato flew away. "I will surely remember you as the best student I had, Minato-kun."

Minato stood on top of a tree a few yards away from the Kyuubi and made a series of hand seals. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!" he said and a poof of smoke took over the entire area, the shinobi holding back the Kyuubi retreated as they noticed the signal from their beloved Hokage. A giant toad with a blue jacket, and a "short" tanto on his side appeared on the field in front of the Kyuubi.

"**Ha! Gamabunta, long time no see! Helping these weakling humans?!!" yelled the Kyuubi as his tails flailed wildly.**

"**Gaki, you cannot be serious!" the toad boss said at the winged human on top of his head.**

"I know, Bunta-sama, but I'll do whatever it takes to save my precious village," Minato said to the toad boss.

"**Well, then let's get this over with." **Gamabunta jumped at the Kyuubi with his tanto in a striking pose.

The Kyuubi cackled and jumped to the side as the fight between toad and demon fox began.

After long minutes of blocking and attacking, Gamabunta had pinned the Kyuubi to the ground. **"Now, Minato!"**

Minato went over a long series of hand seals and called his jutsu, "Shiki Fuujin jutsu!" A cold temperature took over the air around him and from the mist that suddenly appeared behind him emerged a cloaked figure, which had bony arms that wielded a weapon belonging only to the Shinigami.

"**Ah, Namikaze Minato, the last of the Namikaze clan, how long have I been waiting for the opportunity to call you," its voice screamed death.**

"Shinigami-sama, in exchange for my soul, I want the Kyuubi to be sealed inside this newborn child I hold in my arms," Minato said full of determination.

"**Yes… it shall be done."**

The Shinigami thrust his arm through Minato's stomach and quickly grabbed onto the Kyuubi. Throughout the whole country the screams of surprising agony of the demon fox were heard. The Shinigami pulled on its soul and held it to the stomach of the newborn.

The baby screamed as pain overtook it and the Kyuubi's last screams were heard as the baby became unconscious and a spiral seal glowed on his stomach. Minato let a weak chuckle and fell to his knees holding the baby.

"**I'll miss you greatly, Minato-san," Gamabunta dispelled himself.**

Minato was sent spiraling towards the moist soil below and the Shinigami held to his side of the bargain as he entirely pulled the soul from the winged blonde. Minato fell on his back as the rain began to fall on his face. A trickle fell from his eyes down to his cheeks.

"My son, I am very sorry this had to happen. I will promise you that I'll always be watching you… Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto," he smiled weakly and began to feel faint.

Suddenly an old man appeared by his side followed by Jiraiya. "Minato!" they both screamed and fell to his sides.

"Ah, Hiruzen-sama, Jiraiya-sensei, I'm sorry. I ask for something as my last wish, I want him," he looked at the unconscious baby, "to be seen as a hero. He's the jailer of the Kyuubi no Youko, the King of all Bijuu. He's also my son, Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto. Please…" he let out a bloody cough, "take care… of… him," his eyes closed and the hand holding on to Naruto fell limply at his side.

Hiruzen bowed his head in reverence and let Jiraiya handle the blonde baby onto his arms. That's when he noticed that the ground below them were many ash feathers, all coming from Minato. Hiruzen lifted the body of his dead successor and what was below the once white cloak surprised him. "Jiraiya-san, after all this time, even after death, he kept these a secret from everyone," he glanced at the ruined beautiful wings.

"That's not the only thing," Jiraiya faked surprise, "It looks like whatever were those wings, his son is already beginning to grow them," he showed Hiruzen the fragile back of the sleeping baby, two tiny bumps on his shoulder blades.

Hiruzen sighed, "We might have to seal them away, so he doesn't encounter too much trouble growing up. And when he's old enough, he'll learn of his heritage, his Kekkei Genkai, and the Kyuubi no Youko."

Jiraiya nodded and covered up the baby in some fresh blankets he had carried and both men disappeared from the plain, leaving the scattered feathers behind for anyone to imagine what happened there.

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A/N: Ha-cha! Yeah, yeah, I don't do action scenes cause I suck... big time, but I try my hardest. To be honest with myself I think my style of writing needs work, but I'll leave as is until I can find ways to correct it or something. Oh, well... Like it? Dislike it? Needs fixing? Any criticism allowed really. ^^;

¡Hasta luego, amigos!

-BloodKitsune11


	2. Chapter 2

W00t!!! So, I re-read my story yesterday after uploading the first chapter and I thought the 2nd chap. was worthy of being uploaded today. It may be long and rushed, though. Anyway, ON WITH THE FIC!!!

Disclaimer: **-_-" no way I own this masterpiece except this plot.

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**Five years later**

A blonde boy ran through the streets, which were decorated for a festive day, but he didn't seem like he was running because of something spectacular, instead, behind him a mob of angry villagers were chasing him and throwing rocks at the poor kid.

The boy dressed in a white shirt with a red spiral on the front, and short black pants has been trying to get away from the mob but they seem to get faster every minute that passes. But he pushed himself; he HAD to get away from them. He turned into an alley way and gasped in horror as he noticed the dead end, and mentally kicked himself for picking the wrong alley entrance. He turned around to see if he could make it to the other alley, where he had a secret route he would use every time they chased him, but the men caught up to him faster than last time.

"Please… I haven't done anything wrong!" he pulled his hands over his face in defense as he fell on his rear.

"Nothing?! You killed many people, you demon brat!" a man from the crowd screamed and stepped forward to beat the boy.

"AAAGHH!!!" he screamed at the top of his lungs as the man, and along with other men who followed suit to have part of the "fun", proceeded to beat him and stab him.

'_Why me! What have I done to deserve this cruel beatings every day?!'_ he said to himself as he boarded unconsciousness.

An hour after the mob had gone, the boy woke up, every movement he made hurt. He limped in the shadows of the street and eventually came up to his rundown apartment.

He locked himself inside and sat on his bed, bringing his knees to his chest. "Why am I treated this way?" he talked to himself.

He glanced at his cuts and bruises and they were already half way healed. This didn't bother him as he always had this advanced healing, but didn't question such miracle. Suddenly, a loud knock came on his door and he began to retreat to the dark corners of his room and covered his face on his knees. He heard the door open and some footsteps stopped in front of him, he clenched his teeth and iron shut his eyes as he waited for the beating, but it never came. He raised his head and the person he saw made him smile widely.

"Jiji!" he screamed as he hugged the legs of the man.

"Haha, oh, Naruto-kun," he chuckled and lowered himself to Naruto's eye level.

"I'm glad you came here, I was… scared," he lowered his gaze.

The Sandaime Hokage frowned at the mention of that, he knew that this poor boy was being beat up by older men, villagers and shinobi alike did this to him frequently. "It's ok, I'm here and brought a present with me," he took a little red box from his back.

"A present?! You remembered!!" the blonde shook in excitement.

"Of course, why wouldn't I? Here, happy birthday, Naruto-kun."

Naruto took the little red box and opened it; inside there was a necklace with an angel charm with ash wings and blonde hair. "Hey, it looks like me!" he looked at the charm closely.

"Yes, he does, huh?" he smiled and took something out of his pocket, another charm.

"Wow, you brought another charm? Let me see!" he saw a little red fox with black tipped ears and paws, and a white tipped tail.

"Do you like your present, Naruto?" he put the charm on the necklace and placed it around his neck.

"I love it, Jiji! Thanks!" he said and held on his hand the two dangling charms.

'_I knew he would, the angel charm was from his father.' _"Well, Naruto-kun, I have to go, now. I am Hokage, right?"

"Yeah, and that's what I'll be when I become the best Hokage the whole Konoha has seen ever!" Naruto screamed and grinned widely, which gained a chuckle from the Sandaime.

"I'll see you tomorrow, ok?" he began to walk towards the door.

"Yeah!"

"Good night, Naruto-kun."

"Good night, Jiji!"

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The next day was the day he was going to enroll to the Ninja Academy for next semester's class. He ran as fast as his legs could and went towards the Hokage tower.

The receptionist looked at the blonde and smiled, she was among the few people who didn't stare at him with hatred, "Hello, Naruto-kun, I'll call Hokage-sama now."

Naruto began to make his trip up the stairs after the nice lady made the call up to the Sandaime. He opened the doors to the Hokage's office and the Sandaime was signing some papers and looked up as Naruto entered.

"Jiji! I want to enroll in the Academy so I can become a ninja!" Naruto said filled with enthusiasm.

"Of course, why didn't I think of that? Now that you're 5, Naruto, you will go with kids your age so you can graduate and become a ninja. So, let me get out the files to enroll you," he rifled through the tons of paper and found the application for the Ninja Academy.

Naruto walked to the desk and stood tip-toed to see what he was writing. When he was done, he handed the document to Naruto.

"Now, go to the Academy so you can sign in and start next semester," the old Hokage smiled.

"Thanks, Jiji! I'm going to become a ninja!!!" he yelled as he ran out of the office.

Naruto ran through the streets, the paper in his pocked neatly folded as he made his way towards the Ninja Academy. He stopped in front of the wooden building and slowly made his way inside. He walked to the room marked "Office" and entered. A Chuunin with a scarred nose and his brunette hair pulled into a ponytail stared as the blonde walked in.

Obviously confused, the man walked towards the kid and asked, "Why are you here, gaki?"

"Um, I, uh, I'm going to register for the next semester in the Academy," he said nervously.

"Where are your parents, little guy?" he kept asking.

"I have no parents," Naruto looked to the ground ashamed, but took out the paper the Sandaime gave him, "But Jiji gave me this so I can give it to register."

"Jiji? Oh, you mean Hokage-sama. Let me see," he took the paper from the fragile boy's hands and began to read.

He went over to his desk and wrote something. "Well, Uzumaki Naruto, you are hereby registered into next semester's starting date of the Ninja Academy. Welcome aboard!" the Chuunin said it all with a friendly tone and a smile.

Naruto never felt any ninja, except the Hokage of course, who treat him with such kindness that this feeling was almost alien. "Thank you, Chuunin-san!" he hugged the man's legs.

The brunette looked down at the blonde kid and placed a hand on his waist. "You're welcome, Naruto-san."

"Um, what's your name?"

"My name, well, I'm Umino Iruka, and I'll be your sensei next semester, just so you know," he smiled.

"You will be my sensei? Awesome! Well, I gotta go, Iruka-sensei, bye!!!" he left with a quick wave and a smile present on his face.

'_What an inhumanly happy kid. I guess it's because he's been so alone,'_ Iruka turned to his paperwork.

Naruto walked to the playground where he saw many kids playing together. He walked slowly to them, but immediately saw as their mothers called them that they had to 'go do house cleaning' or they had 'errands to attend to'. This saddened the blonde deeply and sat alone on the swing set, rolling between his index finger and his thumb the angel charm from his necklace.

From the corner of his eyes, he saw as a man walked furiously towards him, the face the man had sent shivers down his spine.

"So, my wife told me you tried to attack my kid, demon brat!" he charged his fist and began to give an unexpected beating to the defenseless boy.

Naruto didn't try to defend himself, since he was so caught up in the words that this man said, a complete lie. He closed his eyes and pleaded for unconsciousness to claim him.

The man stopped his beating as he saw the boy unconscious and walked off, without a care in the world, but he couldn't let the kid there so he thought quickly where to leave him. His face lit up, he took the boy and left him deep in the Forest of Death, where no one would see him.

Slowly, Naruto opened his eyes and scanned where he was, a dark forest with gigantic trees reaching the heavens. He paled instantly because he knew that he wouldn't make it out of the humongous forest. He felt heartbroken that he didn't have the protection of the Hokage over him. He felt everything crash down on him, no one would miss him, and they would celebrate his disappearance.

"So, they finally got what they wanted," Naruto murmured and sat against a tree.

He began to cry and buried his face into his knees, and eventually fell asleep.

The charm of the angel on his necklace glowed slightly and its face became one of pity and slowly changed into kindness. The angel glowed once more and a mark appeared on the back of the boy's neck which disappeared in a blue glow. The angel finally changed its features to its original ones and his brief life went away, remaining as just any charm.

Naruto felt a tingle at the back of his neck and woke up as a pain shot from his shoulder blades. He screamed as high as he possibly could, wanting to be heard that he was in indescribable pain. He hugged himself and clenched his teeth as the waves of pain emerged from his shoulders. He hunched his back and faced the ground as he hugged himself tighter. In a final wave of pain, he screamed as he heard his shirt rip from behind and two things shot out from his back. He collapsed onto his side and his new pair of black, red-hued, feathered wings laid as a blanket over him.

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Sitting on top of a bench was none other than the crazy, psycho, Tokubetsu Jounin, Mitarashi Anko. She was enjoying herself to a few dangos when she heard a blood curdling scream from within the Forest of Death, which she watched over. She nearly broke her neck when she turned to face the forest.

In the blink of an eye, she took off and searched for the source of the scream. She couldn't find it, there wasn't any more noise, but just when she was going to return out of the forest, she felt the scream was really close. She ran after it and when she got to the source, she was surprised to see a blonde boy, about five years old, and two magnificent dark wings that were a little moist with a slightly metallic tasting red liquid… his blood.

"What could've happened to this poor kid? And how did he get here in the first place?" She looked around and used her tracking senses and found no chakra trails, but there was a distinct scent, but it was already ruined by the rain in a nearby part of the forest.

She took the kid on her arms, careful to not hurt his newly made wings. She shunshined from the forest to her apartment, where she settled the boy face down and spread his wings slowly. Taking out a towel and some water, she cleaned the wings from the blood and placed a fan next to him so the feathers would dry.

A knock on the door startled her since she doesn't get much company, but opened up anyway.

"Ibiki-san? What are you doing here?" she asked, keeping him outside.

"I went to get you to your precious forest, but you weren't there. Don't you remember that we have a job to do down at the ANBU Torture and Interrogations?" he snarled at her.

"I was in my lunch break, and a little situation showed up."

"A situation? When do you not have one?" he chuckled.

"It's serious, Ibiki!" she glared.

"Hmm, there's never something serious in your situations, why is it an exception?"

"Come," she dragged him inside and slammed the door. She pulled him along to her bedroom and stood inside.

Ibiki went wide eyed at the sight of such a young kid bearing those majestic-looking wings. He studied the kid and when he went to his face, he smirked. "I can't believe this is the Naruto kid."

"Naruto? You mean, this is the kid that the villagers call the 'demon brat'?" she stared at Ibiki.

"Yeah, I wonder if this kid is really one of those 'fallen angels' or it's his dead parents' Kekkei Genkai."

"There is a myth that says that 'fallen angels' come from pain they endure and when they fall from the heavens their feathers symbolize their pain."

"Anko, I never took you to be one of those philosophic ones," he grinned.

"Bah, I am not and never will be," she turned her head away.

"I guess this kid must've gotten a real bad beating yesterday."

Anko sighed in pity and quickly straightened when the blonde began stirring.

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A/N: OOOOOHHHH!!!!! How was that?! I know he didn't grow up with the wings, but he got them now. So just to keep this brief and simple... Like it? Dislike it? Needs fixing? Any criticism is accepted, as long as it's there, it makes me happy it's being read. =]

Until next update!!! ^w^

- BloodKitsune11


	3. Chapter 3

So!! I came back, heheh, yes! This is chapter #3 and I re read this thing a few times over and every time I fixed something, so I'm extra sure its good for the update! ONWARDS!!

Disclaimer: **[I really should be more responsible and write good disclaimer but I don't give a rat's ass.]

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Naruto slowly peeled his eyes open and stared into a rather clean bedroom. He lifted himself and sat, noticing the extra weight on his back. He was going to examine the weight, but noticed two ninja looking at him. "Wha- who are you?!" he stood up and backed away from them.

"Whoa, Naruto, we're not going to hurt ya," said Ibiki.

Naruto stared at both, but didn't come any closer to them.

"Come here, gaki, do you know what you have on your back?" Anko asked slowly making her way towards him.

Naruto whimpered when he saw her coming closer, but to answer her question he shook his head.

"Well, Naruto-kun, you have wings. Now, come here, I'm not going to do anything to hurt you. If I did, I wouldn't have brought you to my apartment," she said with a smile.

"W-wings?" he sat beside her and stared at her eyes.

"Yeah, wings. They are beautiful black wings, if you ask me," she rubbed his back to help him relax.

Naruto formed a small smile on his face, but a question came to his mind, "But how did I get wings?"

Anko and Ibiki looked at each other and Ibiki was the one who talked, "We think that those wings are part of a Kekkei Genkai that is unknown that you got through one of your parents."

Naruto stared and sighed, "I- I never knew my parents."

Anko, then, felt her heart break when he said that. "So you've been an orphan your whole life?" she asked.

Naruto nodded and a tear trailed down his whiskered cheek.

"Anko, we should take him to the Hokage and see what he can do," Ibiki said.

Anko looked at him and nodded and went back to Naruto, "Come on, gaki, we're going to the Hokage."

Naruto nodded and stood with Anko.

"But, first, put on this trench coat, to hide your wings until we get to the Hokage tower," she handed him a black trench coat from her massive collection and fastened it over him to immediately hide the wings.

"Thanks, Anko-neechan," he muttered.

Anko smiled at the suffix he put on her after just this one meeting, but led him towards Ibiki who was by the door waiting for them to leave towards the Hokage.

When they were in the streets, they felt the dark stares directed toward Naruto. They were surprised that he hadn't committed seppuku for all the hatred he was given.

They made it to the lobby and the receptionist lady immediately recognized Naruto and became worried. "Oh, dear! What happened to poor Naruto-kun?" she stood from her desk and lowered to his level to hug him.

"It's ok, I found him and cleaned him, we're just going to meet up with Sandaime-sama urgently," Anko declared.

"Of course, Anko-san, go right up and I'll notify him that Ibiki-san, Naruto-kun, and you are going up," she ran to her desk and quickly called Hiruzen to his office, while the two ninja and Naruto made their way to the office.

Up the stairs and down the hall, Anko and Ibiki with Naruto entered the office of the busy Hokage.

"What's the urgency of this meeting, Anko, Ibiki?" he addressed them, eyeing Naruto to see if anything was wrong with him.

"Well, why don't we show you then tell you what happened," Anko said and lowered to Naruto. "Naruto-kun, could you show Sandaime-sama?"

Naruto looked up from the floor and stared into Anko's brown eyes. He nodded and began to take off the coat. Anko helped him so he wouldn't hurt his wings and finally, he handed the black coat to Anko and she stood up.

'_Oh, Kami-sama, so those wings Minato-san had were a Kekkei Genkai. But how, Jiraiya and I sealed them away.' _"Naruto-kun, come here," Hiruzen waved at him to come.

Naruto walked warily towards him and faced him, "What is it, Jiji?" he asked in a low voice.

"What happened, Naruto-kun? Do you remember anything?" he asked him, he was watching over him with his crystal ball but lost him when the man that beat him left him in the forest.

"The only thing I remember was being beat up by some guy, and then I woke up in some forest, and after I fell asleep for a few minutes, I woke up with the pain on my back. I don't remember anything after that," Naruto told the Sandaime, his eyes were blank, not a glimmer of the happy and hyperactive boy that he was.

Anko stepped forward and started talking, "I found him in the Forest of Death. I took him to my apartment to clean him up a bit. Then, Ibiki and I came here when he woke up."

"I thank you both for bringing him here. Now, if you may, I need to talk to him alone," he said as he stood up.

"Of course, Hokage-sama," both ninja bowed and left the office quickly.

Hiruzen made a jutsu so no one outside the office would hear their conversation. "So, Naruto-kun, why do you think you have these wings?"

"I heard Ibiki-san say that it was Kekkei Genkai. But I think this only makes me seem more of a freak for those stinking villagers," Naruto spat the last parts as anger was shown on his face.

"Indeed, Naruto-kun, this is a Kekkei Genkai, but it's a very rare one. I haven't seen anything like this in my years, so it must've been a very well hidden inheritance," Hiruzen sat on his seat and faced Naruto. _'The only one with those wings was Minato, but I can't tell him, he's still too young.'_

"I don't know what to do with them, I mean, I only just got them. I don't want to show them until I decide to," Naruto said with determination now emanating from his face.

"I think that's a very good decision. But, there's also a myth that was told in the olden time by our elders," Hiruzen rested his back on the seat to get on a more comfortable position.

Naruto's eyes paid full attention to the Hokage, and he sat down to listen in.

"The myth of the fallen angels: it's said that there once was an angel that far up in the heavens saw a human she liked, better yet, she loved. Since he was growing up, the angel constantly went down to Earth and followed him. But after the years, she spent more time in Earth than in Heaven, so Kami-sama made her a deal: to live as a fallen angel on Earth and be with her beloved, but in exchange, she would live like a human. She thought of the deal, she was going to leave behind this peaceful place and immortality to be with her beloved and become mortal.

"The next day, she turned to Kami-sama and agreed to his deal. Almost instantly, she felt as she fell from the heavens and landed in a forest. She saw a small camping site and there was nothing but a sole man near a campfire. The man was her beloved. She ran towards him, and stood a few feet in front of him. The man saw her and became entranced in her beauty and the glow of her snow white wings. She sat beside him and declared her love for him.

"From that day on, they were inseparable. Many people saw them as an impossible love, but yet they lived harmoniously. They married and had children all of them had inherited the beautiful wings of the angel. One fateful day, the man was in a mission for he was a ninja, and as always, she waited for his arrival, but he hadn't come. Slowly her wings began to darken, from the pure white to a dull gray. Then, a few days later, a companion of her husband appeared with his hitai-ate, he had died an honorable death. The mission had turned to the worst when an enemy ninja was threatening them to bring the angel that had fallen from the heavens, and since her husband didn't say a word he was killed.

"The angel cried and cried as well as her children, but they were already grown and they had to put aside their emotions to continue on as ninja. The angel, being alone since her children in time left with their mates, died from loneliness, some feathers scattered around her and they turned from the gray color to pitch black. Her children all passed down the wings, but in the years that passed the clan were found and they disappeared from the face of the Earth."

Naruto glanced at the old man and stood up, "So it's a possibility that one of my parents was a fallen angel too?!" he asked.

Hiruzen chuckled, "I think so, Naruto-kun."

"But how am I going to hide my wings from people?"

"How about using long jackets like the ones Anko-san uses? I'll take you to your home first, and I'll come with some new clothes for you, how's that?" Hiruzen smiled and stood up.

"Yeah!" Naruto yelled.

Hiruzen dispelled the jutsu around the office and placed the black trench coat Anko left around Naruto. "Come on."

They made their way down the tower and into the lobby.

"How's Naruto-kun feeling, Hokage-sama?" asked the lady.

"He's feeling better," he smiled and patted Naruto's shoulder.

"Ow, Jiji, that hurt a bit," Naruto whispered to him.

Hiruzen gave an apologetic look and waved at the secretary and left with Naruto.

Down the street, people gazed at Naruto and quickly left because he was with the Hokage. They walked towards a building and up the stairs. Once they walked in front of a door, they went inside and closed up.

"Ok, Naruto-kun, I got you here, so I'll go to the market and buy you some clothes and jackets. Do you have anything to eat?" he asked the blonde who quickly took off the trench coat and set it on his bed.

"Yeah, I have some instant ramen left."

"Ok, then I'll be right back," he smiled and quickly went outside.

Naruto ran into the small part of the apartment that made up the kitchen and took out a bowl that had the instructions for making the ramen. Making everything as told, he waited for the three minutes till the ramen is done. In the meanwhile, he went into the bathroom and examined his wings in the full length mirror.

"They are completely black. I wonder if I can control them," he said and as if he had them his entire life, he spread them and folded them in his command. He smiled and heard the kitchen timer ding, so he ran out of the bathroom and quickly took out the ramen into a bowl. He sat on his small table and began to slurp down his ramen.

After half an hour of boredom, Naruto heard a knock on his door and walked towards the peep hole. He smiled and opened the door. "Jiji, you took a long time shopping. What did you get?" he asked.

"Calm down, Naruto. Here, take a look yourself," he handed over a bag to Naruto.

Naruto opened the bag and took out the clothing. They were shirts, pants, and a sleeveless, long black coat. "Thanks, Jiji!" he tried on the coat and moved his wings to make sure they were comfortable under the coat.

"No problem, Naruto-kun, but I have to go back to the office and do paperwork. I'll see you some other time, ok?" Hiruzen waved and left the apartment building, making it to his office to finish the paperwork he dislikes so much.

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A/N: WOOOO!!! Wasn't it cute how Naruto acts through all the chapter? Heheh, you tell me, you know the same usual questions at the end of the chapter.

Like it? Dislike it? Needs fixing? Leave ANY review, no matter if its a flame, a thought, something... or nothing at all, I just care that you read it. ;]

¡¡¡Hasta la próxima, mi gente!!!

- BloodKitsune11


	4. Chapter 4

Hey!!! I've come back after such long time... since when? I don't remember but here I've been meaning to update, but school work always keeps me from anything. So now that tomorrow's a field trip, I can update!!! YAAY!!! ON TO THE AWAITED CHAPTER 4!

Disclaimer: **Wouldn't it be cool if I could draw as amazing as any manga artist?**

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**Start of Ninja Academy  
**

Naruto was running down the street excitedly. It was his first day in the Ninja Academy wanted to make it early to get the best seat. He was wearing the black coat the Hokage gave him, which left what he was wearing inside hidden, but the only thing visible were the two white sleeves that reached his elbows and the black ninja pants with black ninja sandals.

He stared at the building and smiled widely and went inside. The only people that were inside were a black haired boy with a duck-butt hairstyle, a pink haired girl drooling behind the boy, and in the back there's a sleeping boy with a pineapple ponytail. He walks up to the back and sits beside the sleeping boy.

The boy lifted his head and stared at the blonde. "Hey, what's your name?"

Naruto looked at the boy and smiled, "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, what's yours?"

"Nara Shikamaru, now don't do anything troublesome, I'm trying to sleep," he said and returned to his nap.

Naruto joined in the silence and buried his head on his arms.

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"Nara Shikamaru," a male voice rang into the ears of the blonde.

A whoosh of air, a flying eraser, and a thud later, Shikamaru lifted his head and murmured a "troublesome."

Naruto woke up when the eraser hit Shikamaru's head and smiled. He noticed that beside the blank chair to his right was a girl with cropped indigo hair and lavender eyes.

The girl noticed him staring and her cheeks turned red and looked away quickly.

'_Huh? Is she sick or something?'_ he thought and noticed that Iruka was really his sensei.

"Uchiha Sasuke," Iruka called.

The raven haired boy from earlier lifted his arm and every girl in the classroom swooned or yelled all fan girlish. But Naruto noticed that the lavender-eyed girl next to him didn't.

"Uzumaki Naruto," Iruka called.

Naruto broke from his trance and looked at Iruka and raised his hand.

A collective head movement went through the classroom to look at the blonde. He looked at all of them and began to think in something else before he could yell at them to stop looking. After the last name was called they started the class… a boring lecture that he eventually fell asleep.

The bell rang a few hours later and both sleeping boys woke up to grab some lunch. They both went the same direction and ended up in Ichiraku Ramen.

"Oi, Ayame-oneechan!" Naruto greeted the lady in the stand.

"Hi, Naruto-kun, I see you brought a friend. The same as always?" she said.

"Yup and… Shikamaru, which do you want?" Naruto asked.

Shikamaru looked at the board with the flavors, "I'd like to try the miso ramen."

"Two miso ramens, coming up!" Ayame said and trailed back to get the ramen.

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Hinata stayed inside the classroom due to not wanting to interrupt anybody, so she ate lunch on her desk. She went to put in the trashcan the juice pouch when she noticed a black feather on Naruto's seat.

'_Naruto-kun doesn't have a bird, but... The feather shines red!'_ she thought and picked it up and examined it.

She put it away in her pant pocket and went on to trash the pouch.

--------------------------------

"Thank you, Ayame-oneechan, Teuchi-ojisan, I'll come by later after school!" Naruto waved back to both Ayame and Teuchi and walked along with Shikamaru towards the Academy.

"Those lectures Iruka-sensei is giving us are so troublesome," Shikamaru sighed.

"I know it's like he wants us to _die_ of boredom."

Suddenly, they passed by Sasuke who was running from fan girls and managed to hide by crouching by a crate of tomatoes. When they were gone, Sasuke walked towards both boys.

"I'm getting tired of getting chased by those girls, they are EVERYWHERE!" Sasuke said looking over his shoulder.

"That's what you get for being so "pretty", Sasuke," Naruto said imitating the voice of the most annoying, screaming banshee, Sakura.

"Shut up, Naruto. They are tiring me out already and it's only the first day. I won't imagine what will happen when we graduate," Sasuke's eyes widened in fear and shuddered.

"SASUKE-KUN!!!" yelled the same mob of fan girls and began to run after him.

"Gotta run!" he screamed as he began to run as far as his legs could carry him.

Naruto and Shikamaru looked at themselves and almost toppled over when the girls ran past them.

"Troublesome," both said and continued their walk towards the Academy.

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"Ok, is everybody inside?" Iruka looked at the students.

"Yep, they're all here," Mizuki said looking up from the clipboard.

"Now let's continue on…" Iruka started his lecture.

"Wake me when this finishes," Shikamaru said and fell asleep in an instant.

Naruto shrugged and tried to pay attention. He held his face using his arm as a stand, but promptly began to doze off.

"Naruto-kun?" called a voice next to him.

Naruto swiveled his head to his right and Hinata was looking at him.

"Um, I-I wanted t-to ask you, is… um," she took out the black feather, "D-do you have a bird?"

Naruto stared at the feather, "Where'd you get that?"

"I-it was on y-your seat."

"Oh, maybe it flew in from the window," he said as he pointed to the window on the wall nearest from him.

Hinata nodded and returned to twirling the feather.

'_She almost caught me, almost.'_ Naruto slowly placed his arms in front of him and began to sleep.

The class went the same and shortly after Iruka was done the bell rang, rudely waking up both boys at the back of the room.

Both yawned and stood up from their seats. Naruto walked outside and saw that many mothers and fathers came to pick up their children; one by one they were walking away. He hung his head and walked down the streets, not taking notice of the lavender eyed Hyuuga following him.

Naruto pulled into the Ichiraku Ramen stand again, "Just like I told you, Ayame-neechan."

"I know, Naruto-kun, so, you going to eat something or are you going to tell us about your first day," she smiled.

"Nah, gimme a bowl pork ramen," Naruto said.

"Alright," Ayame got him his bowl.

Naruto took the chopstick and picked them apart and yelled "Itadakimasu!" as he dug in.

Hinata went inside and saw that he was there still and blushed lightly. "Um, c-can I have chicken ramen t-to go?" she asked.

"Sure," Ayame quickly went to the back and got a take away bowl and chopsticks. "Here you go."

"Thanks," she took the bowl and chopsticks and paid for it then went away.

"Ah! That's some good ramen! I gotta go, see you tomorrow!" Naruto left the money and waved at Ayame.

"Bye, Naruto-kun!" Ayame said.

Naruto walked with a full stomach towards his apartment, but in a hurried pace as to not let the villagers get to him. He finally got to his apartment and closed the door behind him. He placed the Academy goggles on top of the bed and the money he's carrying in his secret stash. He threw himself on the bed face down and hugged his pillow.

"Everything here is so boring," he stared out of his window from his bed, "I'll spend the night outside, in my favorite place."

He ran outside and saw the sky take the orange colors as the sun began to set. He took a route no one knows and hikes the Hokage Monument. He then settles to see the sunset and the whole village from the top of the Yondaime's head.

"This may be the only place I have left that brings peace and quiet," Naruto told himself and took of the black coat, revealing a white elbow-sleeved shirt that had a torn back, and spreads his wings to feel the wind. He smiles widely, and then hears a gasp from nearby. "Who's there?!"

From the trees hanging over the Monument, Hinata climbed down and stared at Naruto with a blush on her face.

"What were you doing up there, Hinata?" he asked.

"I-I… um…" she started to poke her index fingers together, "Y-you have pretty w-wings."

"Oh, uh… thanks?" he said and made his trademark grin while rubbing the back of his head. He sat down and patted the space beside him so she would sit with him.

Hinata hesitated, but sat down.

"Hinata-san, I want you to keep this as a secret between us because no one knows that I have these," he said staring at the sky.

She looked at him from the corner of her eyes and nodded. Her eyes widened when she felt a wing wrap around her shoulders, but smiled and stared at the sky as it began to darken.

Night took over and the stars sparkled along with the crescent moon adorning the sky.

"Um… I-I have to go home. F-father must be worried a-about me," Hinata said and stood up.

"Oh, I'll take you to your home, if that's ok with you," Naruto stood in front of Hinata and began to put on the coat.

Hinata nodded and waited for Naruto to finish, and then walked off from the Hokage Monument into the silent streets of Konoha.

Hinata led Naruto through the streets and stopped when they reached a giant compound.

"You live in there?" asked Naruto.

She nodded and went towards the gates, "Good night, Naruto-kun."

"Night, Hinata. I'll see you tomorrow at the Academy, then."

She nodded and quickly walked inside followed by one of the guards outside.

Naruto frowned as he walked alone in the streets again, sure Hinata had seen his wings, sure she was one who treated him human and with much kindness, but that's only the first day. Though, he was thinking why she would follow him up till the Hokage Monument.

He pulled into his apartment and took off his coat and shirt, so the wings could get more comfort without the fabric around them. He trailed on to his bed and set himself face down and the dream world claimed him.

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A/N: YAAAYYYY!!!! So how was this?! Isn't it starting to become clear who loves Naruto-kun since the first day? AWWWW!!! Oh, and I still don't understand why am I making these chapters so short... they're getting shorter the update!!! CRISIS!!!!

Ok, usual questions: Like it? Dislike it? Needs fixing? Leave any to no review cause I only care that you read this fic that I work so hard to write =]

¡¡¡Me comen los zombies!!! Hahaha Rule #32: Enjoy the little things [Zombieland - Tallahassee]

- BloodKitsune11


	5. Chapter 5

Hello!! Wow, it's been very hard for me, not having the time to upload this effin chapter... Spanish class made me read the novel 'El Gibaro' by Manuel Alonso... If you are asking yourself "WTF!!" I know, tomorrow's the test and I don't give a shizz. It's just too boring... haha, thank God I was born and still live in Puerto Rico so I understand, it would be harder for you guys right? Anyway, aside from talking about this valid excuse, here's chapter 5!!! ENJOY!!!

Disclaimer: **[I hate Spanish class even if I live in P.R.] D:**

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**7 years later, Ninja Academy Genin Exam**

"Ok, students, I'm proud to say that I'm very happy for you getting as far as this and now you're going to graduate. But before we can just nominate you as Genin, you'll all take your graduation exam consisting of three things: Ninjutsu, weaponry aim, and Taijutsu. Got all that?" Iruka looked at his students and all of them were quite surprisingly paying much attention, except the always lazy Nara at the back.

"Well, let's start. When we Mizuki-sensei and I call you, you will go to the next room to be evaluated… Ok," he looked to his clipboard and began calling names.

At the back of the room, both lazy boys were leaning back, one looking out the window at the clouds, and the other looking at the ceiling.

"N-Naruto-kun," Hinata called, "Shikamaru-kun."

Both looked at her and she seemed to blush lightly for gaining their attentions and the stares from them.

"Do y-you think I'll p-pass?" she asked.

"Yeah, you would, Hinata-chan, frankly out off all the girls here, I think you have the most potential," Naruto grinned.

"He said it," Shikamaru said and returned to staring at the clouds.

"Th-thank you," she said and heard her name being called.

"Good luck, Hinata-chan," Naruto said.

Hinata smiled and walked out of the classroom toward the room used for the evaluations.

'_I hope that my extra training to do the Bunshins paid off,' _Naruto thought as a small sweat drop trailed the side of his face.

He saw as many kids were already out of the classroom, the only ones left were the Uchiha, the Yamanaka fan girl, and him, waiting to be called.

Sasuke was called and sulked his way to the other room. He had become like that ever since the Uchiha clan Massacre a few years ago. He barely talked and always responded with his famous 'hn'.

He sat as still as he could to finally be called, but the blonde in front of him was talking to someone, but noticed she was trying to talk to him.

"Naruto-baka!!! Are you there in your body?" Ino Yamanaka called, a vein popping from her temples.

"Oh, um, yeah, what is it?" he shook his head and stared at her.

"So, what's up with calling Hinata "-chan"?" she said with a smirk on her face, he knew too well that she probably thinks that they are boyfriend/girlfriend, after all she _is_ the queen of gossiping.

"Well, uh… she's the only girl who ever treats me well," he said and stubbornly crossed his arms on his chest and turned his head away.

"Whatever, 'dead-last'," she looked back to another place.

Silence crept up in the lone classroom with two blondes. They simultaneously cocked their heads at each other and engaged in a stare off.

Suddenly, the door opened and Iruka looked confused at the two. "Uzumaki Naruto, you're coming with me and Yamanaka Ino, you'll be with Mizuki-sensei."

Both blondes didn't break the stare off and stayed in front of the door, an electric current connected both eyes. Iruka was about to break it off, but Ino blinked and rubbed her eyes and Naruto smirked.

"HA, IN YOUR FACE, I WON THIS STARE OFF!!!" Naruto gloated at Ino and walked towards Iruka.

"I will get my revenge!!!" Ino called as she went towards Mizuki.

Both went their ways and Iruka led Naruto to the evaluation room.

"Ok, Naruto-kun, first part is a Taijutsu match against me," he said and placed the clipboard down.

Both bowed and began their sparring match. It lasted a few minutes because the purpose was for Iruka to evaluate him.

"Ok, Naruto," he jotted something into his clipboard and looked at him, "Now let's see your aim with shuriken and kunai."

Naruto was handed several shuriken and kunai and was able to place 6 out of 10 bull's-eyes with kunai and 7 out of 10 with shuriken.

"That was very good, Naruto-kun," he jotted down something more and then looked back up, "Now for Ninjutsu. Make a henge into Mizuki-sensei, Hokage-sama, or me."

Naruto turned into a perfect copy of Iruka and bowed then dispelled it.

"Now, use Kawarimi to substitute yourself with something in here."

Naruto made the hand seals and appeared where Iruka was and Iruka in the place Naruto was.

A nervous smile crept on Iruka's face as he was going to announce Naruto's worst jutsu. "If you can make this last one, you will pass and become Genin," he said and saw the grin always present on Naruto's face. "Make three Bunshins and you pass."

Naruto concentrated his chakra and made the hand seals for the Bunshin. A puff of smoke took over the room and three perfect clones appeared. Only he knew that these "bunshins" were Kage Bunshins, the only way he could make a clone because of some unknown reason the Hokage wouldn't tell him.

"That's great, Naruto-kun," he took a hitai-ate from his desk, "you pass!"

"YATTA!!!" he took the hitai-ate and wrapped it around his forehead, "Thank you, Iruka-sensei!!!"

Iruka smiled and saw as Naruto hugged him and then went outside to meet with his friends.

"Y-you passed, Naruto-kun!" Hinata ran over to him.

"Yeah, you too!" Naruto saw Hinata's hitai-ate around her neck, and then wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly.

"Na-Naruto-kun… I c-can't breathe!" Hinata struggled with the tight grip.

"Oh, sorry, Hinata-chan," Naruto rubbed the back of his head.

Shikamaru, with his hitai-ate attached to his left sleeve, walked over to them with a lazy pace, "So, I guess everyone passed?"

They all glanced as their whole group sported their hitai-ate proudly in different fashions.

"Why don't we go get some ramen?" Naruto offered.

They both knew better than to disagree, but they already had grown accustomed to his overly known super reverence for ramen. They walked to the Ichiraku Ramen stand and sat on their stools.

"So, the usual for our three favorite customers?" Teuchi said and smiled at them.

"Yep," Naruto said.

"Oh, my beloved customers passed the Genin exams! Well then, today's ramen is on the house!" Teuchi said proudly and began to gather the bowls of ramen for his three favorite customers.

"You are too good, Teuchi-ojisan."

"Heheh, here," in front of the Genin, he put the hot ramen bowls and saw as they all started to dig in.

An hour later of talking and watching Naruto eat 5 bowls of different flavored ramen, the group said their 'bye's' and left their separate ways to celebrate with their families, except Naruto, of course, he stayed in his room and celebrated alone.

A loud thudding on his door alerted him from his meditation, he knew that his self-proclaimed Jiji would never pound on the door, so he put on his coat on and opened the door to find Sasuke with the eyes of his former self, from before he had lost his entire family.

"Hey, Naruto-niisan," he said, Naruto knew that because of his new image as an "avenger" because of the massacre, he called him 'dobe' in public.

"Hey, Sasuke-niisan, how's everything?" he asked while letting him inside and locked the door.

"I've been thinking too much, this pain of having no one to congratulate me for my achievement when I get home. The only thing that's there is the horrible silence, so I thought that I could spend some time here until I can calm down."

"I know how that feels, kinda… I mean, I never had a family and I don't know who my parents were, but I still feel something like that because no one congratulates me…" Naruto sat on his bed and looked at the floor. "Like anybody would congratulate the 'demon brat'," he muttered to himself, but Sasuke caught that.

"What do you mean by 'demon brat', Naruto?" he asked.

"Oh, it's just… nah, I don't want you to be more down than what you are. Don't worry about it."

Sasuke looked at Naruto but then walked to the moonlit window that looks down at the streets of Konoha. He frowned and sat beside Naruto. "This is the worst I've felt since the… massacre," he said and gulped as he said the last word.

Naruto looked at Sasuke and both began talking about things, but the conversation eventually drifted to the thought of finally doing missions, and getting recognized as a ninja.

Sasuke sighed in content and stood. "Now I know for sure why you are my best friend, Naruto. You really know how to cheer someone up."

"No problem, Sasuke-niisan, you know you can always count on me," he smiled widely and stood as well.

"Well, I guess I'll go home and try to get some sleep. Bye, Naruto-niisan," he waved and stood out of the apartment, putting his hands in his pockets.

Naruto saw as the door squeaked shut and took off his coat. _'Sasuke seems to be too troubled by that. I can see the pain in his eyes every day, he's in a sense like me, and he also has a mask to hide the pain. He only takes that mask off around me and I around him too, since that's how we knew each other so well. I just hope he moves on and let go of that past.'_

He buried himself under the sheets and slept his thought on who will be on his team.

The alarm clock rang and attacked the ears of the blonde as he grumbled to himself some nonsense.

He bathed, brushed his teeth, ate breakfast, and dressed up into his white elbow-sleeved shirt with the torn back, his black ninja pants, the black ninja sandals, and the long sleeveless black coat.

He took off towards the Academy as he put on his hitai-ate on the way. He ran inside the classroom where they were supposed to meet and was relieved that Iruka hasn't started yet.

"Ok, now that we're all here, I will start by saying that I'm proud of each and every one of you for passing. Now, like everything in life, you will start from the bottom and the lowest rank of ninjas: as Genin. But even so, as you progress you'll get a lot stronger and eventually you will gain more ranks. So from now on, you won't be a student of mine, but you still will be a student of your sensei as you will be put on three-man teams.

"I will start with Team one…" he retreats his eyes onto the paper he held on his hands.

Naruto paid no attention because his names wasn't called, so he kept quiet and looked around at everybody. He had been late so the seats from the back were taken, and it looks like Shikamaru was late too, because he was sitting by the human vacuum, Chouji.

"Team 7: Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Uzumaki Naruto. Your sensei will be Hatake Kakashi."

'_**Oh, my KAMI-sama! We are with Sasuke-kun, it's our time to get that HUNK and keep him away from Ino-pig!' **_inner Sakura screamed at the top of her lungs as Sakura expressed this by squealing really high and sticking her tongue out at Ino.

'_Oh, mother of all that's good, please, PLEASE leave this girl away from me, PLEASE don't let her pound me, I've heard she can pummel anybody to the ground… too bad she puts that good strength to bad use or else… no, it's not bound to happen… I think!'_ Sasuke thought as he heard the pink headed squealing _thing_ and a few sweat drops began to run down his forehead. He sighed inwardly and thought positive, _'at least there's Naruto.'_

'_Holy SHIT!!!! Sasuke and I are good partners but I don't think I could handle that… that… pink thing! Oh, Kami-sama SAVE ME!!!'_ Naruto pleaded silently, but it was evident in his eyes that he absolutely didn't want that girl in his team.

"Team 8: Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata, and Inuzuka Kiba. Your sensei will be Yuuhi Kurenai."

'_I didn't get on Naruto-kun's team, at least it's with Shino-kun and Kiba-kun, since I know them from Otousan's clan meetings,' _Hinata pondered.

'_YEAH! I got Hinata-chan, beat that Naruto-baka, I will win her heart and get her away from the 'dead-last',' _Kiba thought with a smirk on his face.

"Team 9: Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, and Akamichi Chouji. Your sensei will be Sarutobi Asuma," Iruka said and his voice eventually trailed off in the remaining teams because of the large group.

'_Troublesome, a fan girl on my team, but this is probably the Hokage's way of making the second generation of the InoShikaCho from our fathers. Let's hope she grows up from that troublesome obsession.'_

'_Oh no! That little billboard forehead got Sasuke-kun, and I'm stuck with the worst boys ever! At least I could've gone along with Naruto by making not so many conversations, but these guys, a lazy boy that slept throughout the whole Academy years, and the fatty with the greasy gross potato chips!'

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_

A/N: So, what do you think? I think I did better here, as an amateur writer, I can't find the dang cliffhangers I want to leave... but it'll make this stressful if you have to wait more than I expected to edit and re-edit, then re-read and edit some more then to wait for a free time to upload this chapter. ~sigh~

So the usual questions: Like it? Dislike it? Needs fixing? Any reviews are valid, so no worries! I only like it when you read it and it motivates me to write more.

OOH! Almost forgot, because I feel this is going great, I have another writing in process of organizing the structure and the storyline. I have in mind what the end will be, but I seem to get stuck in the middle... so yeah! I wish everyone luck in their writing... in their whatever they need the luck =)

¡¡Feliz Día de los Muertos!!

- BloodKitsune11


	6. Chapter 6

Hey! So I thought I would make up with the days of absence with uploading chapter 6!! I hope the finishing touches I did yesterday were enough =]

Disclaimer: **[I seriously aced the Spanish test! NOT! Haha, a collective fail... no one read the book. Neither did I 3 ]**

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Naruto and Sasuke were sitting together as far away from Sakura, but it seems she can be stealthy when it comes to her 'love'. They kept at the chase for a few minutes but noticed that everyone had left with their sensei, and theirs hasn't come yet.

"When the hell is this guy coming here?!!" screamed Naruto.

"I hate to agree with you Naruto-baka, but you are right for the first time," Sakura said and took out her pocket mirror and began to pet her hair to keep it 'perfect'.

Sasuke simply closed his eyes and 'hn'-ed.

A few minutes later after the ranting, the door creaked open and a shinobi with silver, gravity defying hair, his hitai-ate covering his left eye, and a mask over the lower half of his face came in and 'eye smiled'. "Yo!"

The trio jerked their head in the direction of the voice and saw him. "What the hell took you so long?!" Sakura yelled.

The silver haired Jounin looked at them and on his mask wrinkles slightly resembled a smile, "Meet me at the rooftop." He 'eye smiled' again and disappeared in a small poof of smoke.

They all stood with annoyed faces and walked up to the rooftop, where they found him reading a little orange book.

The Jounin looked up from his book and pocketed it and urged them to sit in front of him.

"So, why don't we get to know each other better, tell me your names, likes and dislikes, your dream of your future, your hobbies." he said.

"Why don't you start, sensei?" Sakura started.

"Well, my names is Hatake Kakashi, I have many likes and dislikes. My dream of my future, well I haven't really thought about that… My hobbies… hmmm… not worth mentioning… So, whiskers, you first," he pointed at Naruto.

Naruto grumbled a little under his breath for the nickname, but spoke up. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto, I like ramen, the few friends I have, and the nighttime. I dislike the three minutes it takes to boil the ramen, the fan girls," he stared darkly at Sakura, "that people tend to judge people by the cover of the book and not get to know what they really are. My dream for my future is to become Hokage! And my hobbies are going out to eat with my friends, meditate, and staring at the sky at night."

'_He seems to be the kind of person who would look at the bright side of things no matter how the odds are against him.'_ "Next, cockatoo head," he looked at Sasuke.

Sasuke seemed bothered but he kept collected, "My name is Uchiha Sasuke, I don't like many things, and I dislike many things. The dream of my future is to recreate my clan and to kill a certain man…" he paused, "I don't have any hobbies."

'_He seems to be still affected by that event and closed himself off to the world. The need to kill his brother and could prove to be a problem if he doesn't control himself.' _"And, megaphone, your turn."

Sakura 'hmph'ed and stared at the man, "My name is Haruno Sakura, I like…" she stared at Sasuke and blushed, "I dislike Naruto-baka and Ino-pig. The dream of my future," she stared again at Sasuke and blushed, "My hobbies are…" she did the same thing again.

'_She'll never go anywhere with that attitude. She could be pretty strong if she takes her eyes off a fantasy and comes into reality.' _"Well, then… now that we know each other, I'll let you know that tomorrow we're having a test-"

"But Kakashi-sensei, we already took a test to become Genin," Sakura said.

"I know, but this test I'm talking about is a test to see if you are fit to be Genin, there is a ninety seven percent chance that you'll pass. Did you think all the teams would pass to be Genin?"

The trio stayed silent.

"Ok, so meet me tomorrow at 6am at Training Ground 7 and don't eat breakfast or you'll throw it up. So, see ya!" he left in a swirl of leaves.

Naruto looked at both of his teammates and stood up and started to leave through the door that leads down the building, and Sasuke did the same and followed.

"Wait for me!" Sakura ran after them.

She ran down the stairs hoping to catch up to both boys but when she came out of the building she looked to both sides of the street and saw neither.

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Naruto and Sasuke peeked from the alleyway and saw Sakura leave with steam almost visible over her head. They both exhaled their held breath and walked out.

"So, good luck not being found by the mob of banshees, Sasuke."

"I hope so, dobe," he said and began to walk silently in the direction of his compound.

Naruto walked to his apartment, but his feet led him away to Ichiraku Ramen.

"I was wondering when you were going to show up," Ayame said as she saw Naruto come in.

"Oh, sorry, meeting with my new Team and sensei."

"Right, I forgot about that detail, now that you're a ninja, we won't see you as often, but I am way proud of you, Naruto-kun," Ayame put his bowl of ramen on the table.

"Thanks, Ayame-oneechan," he said and started to eat.

Half an hour later of eating 3 bowls and talking about his day to Ayame and Teuchi, Naruto left the stand and walked to his apartment after a few hours of sightseeing.

He sat at the edge of his window starring at the starry night as the moon decreased in size. _'I wonder how and when would I ever tell or show everyone my real self. Will they ever like me the same way or would I be just a freak of nature? At least I have Hinata-chan, who knows.'_

He quickly fell asleep to the sound of his fan's whirring and the crickets' chirping.

The next day he woke up before his alarm even went off, so he readied himself anyway and began to look for Training Ground 7. When he arrived at said place, Sasuke and Sakura were already there, but no sign of Kakashi-sensei.

"Kakashi-sensei isn't here?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke gave a quick shake of the head and Sakura only stared at Naruto.

"Why did you come 5 minutes late?" Sakura scolded Naruto.

"Because I can, Sakura-baka!" he talked back at her.

"Could you please stop that?" Sasuke finally spoke up.

Sakura looked at him with hearts on her eyes and Naruto stared darkly at Sakura.

None of them ever talked after that and waited patiently for Kakashi-sensei to come. Out of boredom, Sasuke began to slice at the ground with a kunai, Naruto climbed onto a branch a slept in the shade, and Sakura sat under the tree Naruto was and stared at Sasuke.

After 5 hours late, Kakashi-sensei appeared and the two faces that were on the ground stared at him, while Naruto slept on.

"You're late, Kakashi-sensei!!!" Sakura screamed, and in the background you could see a flying Naruto landing face down on the unforgiving ground.

Kakashi saw what the reactions to each one were and was regretting getting Sakura in his team. "I'm sorry I was just lost in the road of life," he said and scratched his head.

Naruto and Sasuke walked forward to face Kakashi-sensei.

From his pockets, he pulled out a timer and set it on a tree stump as well as three, yummy smelling bento. He heard their rumbling stomachs and smiled. "So, here's the test: I have two bells tied to my belt and the challenge is to try and grab the bells. The ones who have a bell by noon, will become Genin and have lunch, and the one who doesn't get a bell will be tied to one of the three tree stumps and watch as we eat lunch in front of you, and will also be sent back to the Academy. Any questions?"

The two boys smirked and Sakura was simply scared.

Kakashi 'eye smiled', "Well, then when I say 'start' the timer will start and so will the test…" he threw his arm diagonally and yelled, "Start!"

Everyone disappeared from view and hid from their 'opponent'. "One of the rules of the ninja: always stay hidden." He took out his orange book and began to read, while looking over it to keep an eye on their movement.

--------------------------------

Sasuke and Naruto met up and began to discuss their plan to get the bells, and not far behind, Sakura was looking at them curiously.

"…so, to get the bells, we need to work together because it's obvious that we are no match for a Jounin," Sasuke said.

"Yeah, so maybe we should work on one being stealth and the other the distraction. I, myself, am a pretty good distraction, Sasuke-niisan."

"_Sasuke-niisan', why is he talking like that to Sasuke-kun?'_ Sakura thought as she closed in on them.

"Hmm, Sakura, I know you're there," Sasuke's voice hardened.

Sakura was amazed that he could sense her so easily and saw that Naruto had his eyes closed and looked like he was meditating.

"I got it! Uh," Naruto stared at Sakura who was there. "Hey Sakura-san, glad you could make it here to be in the plan."

"So Naruto, what's the plan?" Sasuke's voice was cold again, only Naruto knew why.

Sakura looked back and forth from both as Sasuke began to talk like he had always done after the massacre, nothing like he was when he talked with Naruto.

"Ok, Sasuke, I will create one of my clones and henge it into you. Sakura, you and I with the Sasuke clone will serve as a distraction and try to fight Kakashi-sensei while the real Sasuke will go get the bells. Got it? I know it's simple but it's what I can come up with in such short notice."

'_He actually thought up all that?! There's no way Naruto is that smart, he's the dead last!!!'_ Sakura screamed internally.

"I think it has a very good chance of working, Naruto. Now let's go look for that scarecrow," Sasuke said and the trio began to move.

------------------

Kakashi was beginning to wonder where they were but he felt their chakra signatures still around him.

"Hmm?" he said and saw the bushes ruffle. _'They finally came up to me, huh?'_

From the bushes, all three Genin came in a good pace and engaged him in a Taijutsu match. Kakashi felt that this was too reckless if all three came at once. He was quick with his work and saw that the three were already on the floor, but when he landed a hit on Sasuke, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke while the other two retreated.

"Huh? They were quick with their match, I wonder where Sasuke was when they engaged me in the spar," he began to read once again as he waited for them to go at it again, but he knew there was only a few minutes on the clock since he came so late.

---------------------------------------

"He didn't even notice the bells are gone," Naruto said.

"Good, now we can wait for him to come when the timer runs out, and that's in…" Sakura said and stared at the timer, "about seven to ten minutes."

"Here, Sakura, Naruto," Sasuke took out the bells and handed one to each other.

"But you'll have no bell!" Sakura said.

"I don't think I'll have to worry," Sasuke smirked.

"Whatever you say so," Naruto said and walked past Sasuke to go to sleep on the trees, bumping into him purposely and conspicuously dropping the bell onto his back pocket.

------------------------------------

"Its noon already and they failed to even attempt to come back," Kakashi said and went to the place where the stumps were. He was surprised to see that Sasuke and Sakura were waiting for him, but Naruto was nowhere to be found.

"Naruto, Kakashi-sensei's here!" Sakura ran up to a tree and looked up.

Naruto dropped down from the tree and came up to Kakashi.

"I'm afraid that I have to tell you that all three, you fail as a team, only two of you tried to come at me," Kakashi sounded disappointed.

"I beg to differ, Kakashi-sensei. You don't have your bells," Sasuke pointed out.

Kakashi looked at his belt and saw none.

"But how?"

"It was a plan that Naruto came up with," Sasuke responded.

"Who took the bells?"

"The dobe and Sakura."

Sakura took out her bell, but Naruto didn't.

"Where's the bell, Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

"Um… Sasuke has it."

"But, Naruto, Sasuke-kun gave you a bell! What do you mean he has it?"

"If someone deserves a bell is Sasuke, I'm sure I will tolerate being tied up," Naruto said with a sly smile on his face.

Kakashi heard the exchange of words and saw as Sasuke took out a bell from his back pocket. _'They truly know what teamwork is, I bet that Naruto and Sasuke were the ones to meet up and when Sakura decided to look for the object of her obsession, she found both making the plan.' _"Well, there's only one thing I would say, you..." he paused for dramatic effect.

All three Genins' eyes grew big, eager to hear his words.

"You… pass," he eye smiled.

"YATTA!!!" Naruto screamed.

Sakura smiled widely, and Sasuke gave a small smile.

"Well, hurry up and grab your lunches and I'll see you tomorrow at the Hokage's office for our first mission," Kakashi disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"Finally, I'm hungry!" Sakura said and was quick to grab a bento and dig in.

Naruto and Sasuke stared as she devoured her food, but eventually ate silently. The three walked out of the Training Ground 7 and each went to their ways.

-----------------------------------

'_Naruto-niisan didn't have to do that. Well, at least, Sakura didn't go psycho like at the Academy,'_ Sasuke sighed in relief as he walked to the compound. _'I wonder what's the mission going to be… hopefully it won't be the Daimyo's wife's cat that all the ninja in the… clan talked about and hated so much.'

* * *

_

A/N: Hahaha, I enjoyed making this one. Oh, I forgot to place this on the top part, but for the anonymous reviewer, who called him/herself 'KyuubiNaruto19', Naruto's wings are black and when placed in any light source, they have a red-ish shine to it... like black hair on light shines silver, while dark brown shines brown so the hair colors aren't confused. [I though a friend of mine had black hair until I saw it under the sunlight and it looked brown. haha XD]

Well, usuals: Like it? Dislike it? Needs fixing? Anything or nothing, I like to know that people reads it. =]

¡¡BUENAS NOCHES!! [o buenos dias]

- BloodKitsune11


	7. Chapter 7

Woo!! Yay, here I am again in my stories. I decided to upload this one because I am having a hard time getting over some writer's block on chapter 11 from this story. Yeah, I make the chapters in advance so I have plenty of time to edit and make some finishing touches just for you! =D

So for everyone who was waiting for this update, HERE'S CHAPTER 7!!!

Disclaimer: **[Hell yeah, I like writing but writer's block can kiss my arse! XD ]**

* * *

Naruto walked silently, thinking about the day before when they passed, but now wasn't the time to think about it, he was on his way to the Hokage to get their first mission.

Team 7 met up in the office and Hiruzen smiled because he finally saw that Naruto was a Genin.

"Well, Kakashi-san, finally able to pass a team?" Hiruzen chuckled.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head and then said, "Well, we're here to get our first mission."

"As a Genin team, it's an honor to present them with their first mission," he took a scroll with the letter 'D' on it, "Here," he handed it over to Kakashi.

"That thing is still alive?!" Kakashi stared at Hiruzen.

"I'm afraid so, you know how it goes Kakashi-san."

Kakashi sweat dropped and turned to his students. "Our mission is to recover the Daimyo's wife's cat Tora. Put on these microphones, this is how we'll communicate."

They took the speakers and walked out of the office.

"Ok, I'll assign you your code names. Naruto you'll be fox, Sasuke you'll be raven, and Sakura you'll be cherry. I will be scarecrow, so let's scatter and make a perimeter around the sightings of the cat."

The team scattered around the place it was said to be spotted, a small area with many trees in which the cat can be hiding.

"Report," Kakashi said over the speaker.

"Target located. It's close to me and Fox," Sasuke replied through the speaker.

"Fox reporting, the cat is moving towards me."

"Cherry reporting, I'm moving towards Fox and Raven's location."

"Alright, proceed to capture, Scarecrow pending," Kakashi said and leaned on a tree to read his orange book.

* * *

Sasuke and Naruto nodded at each other and Sakura stood on a tree in case the cat decided to climb.

"Now!" Sasuke said and Naruto pounced at the cat.

The cat slipped through Naruto and Sasuke jumped from the direction it was going after, but failed to grab it. Naruto growled and closed in as the cat didn't see anywhere to run to. Sasuke and Naruto smirked and after an unannounced signal, Naruto and Sasuke broke some ninja wire, a net fell and trapped the cat.

"Raven reporting, the target was successfully captured."

"Ok, bring it to our meeting place. Scarecrow, over and out."

"Damn cat almost escaped again!" Naruto said and sighed.

Sakura climbed down from the tree and Sasuke stared at the cat.

"Who's going to pick it up?" he asked.

Silence.

"Oh, alright…" Naruto crouched down and grabbed the cat from its scruff while it tried to bite and scratch the boy's hand.

They met up with Kakashi and then walked to the Hokage's office.

* * *

"Oh, my poor Tora, mommy was so worried about you!!" a fat lady pulled the cat into a killer hug and it was actually turning purple.

The four people present, including the Hokage, sweat dropped, thinking of the same thing: _'No wonder it escapes every time.'_

"Alright, Team 7, that's today's mission, I'll see you tomorrow for some training," Kakashi said.

"Ok, then Team 7 is dismissed," Hiruzen said. "Oh, Naruto stay here a moment."

Everyone left and Naruto stayed behind and walked towards the Hokage.

"What is it, Jiji?"

"When I was ruffling through my drawers to organize my documents, I found this," Hiruzen smiled as he took out a small figurine in the form of a toad with a blue jacket, a small tanto, and a pipe on its mouth. "It belonged to the Yondaime Hokage."

Naruto's eyes grew big and stared with a wide grin at it. "Can I have it?!" he said.

"Of course, Naruto-kun, or else I wouldn't have told you stay now would I?" Hiruzen smiled and placed it delicately on Naruto's hands. "It's made of a really strong metal so it may have been a gift from the toad boss to him. Guard it with your life."

"I know I would, Jiji!" Naruto placed it in his coat's pocket then waved as he left.

* * *

It has been various weeks and various D rank missions and Team 7 went back to the Hokage to get a new mission.

"Yo!" Kakashi greeted his team as they walked inside the office.

"Kakashi-sensei, why don't we get better missions, I'm getting tired doing these boring D rank missions," Naruto protested.

"I guess, I'd have to agree with Naruto in this one, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said.

"Me too," Sasuke agreed with them.

"What do you think Kakashi-san?" Hiruzen addressed the silver haired Jounin.

"I think they're ready, so how about a C rank mission now?" he eye smiled and looked at the Hokage.

"Of course, Tazuna-san you may pass to greet your escorts."

An old man with glasses and messy hair passed inside, on his hands was a bottle of sake that was almost completely drained. The man squinted and looked at Team 7.

"Diz iz the team tha' will escort meh back teh Nami? What'z with tha' pipsqueak lookin' at meh?" the drunken man said.

On Naruto's temple popped a vein, "What did you say?!" he was about to throw himself at the man but Sakura held him back.

"Whoa, Naruto, keep yourself calm or do I have to?!" Sakura yelled into his ear.

Kakashi and Hiruzen sweat dropped and then stared at Tazuna. "Yes, they are the escort team I gave the mission to."

"Alright, team, Tazuna-san, we will meet at the gate in 20 minutes," Kakashi said and bowed as he left.

Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto gave cold glares at the drunk and left, while Tazuna looked back at Hiruzen, took a swish of sake, and left.

----- 30 minutes later at the Main Gate -----

"We're all here?" asked Kakashi, as he walked in.

"You're late, Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura yelled.

"Why don't we get a move on already!" said Tazuna, talking way better than before, "the bridge doesn't build itself, you know?"

Team 7 sighed and they began their journey. They maintained a formation so that if they were attacked they would easily protect the man: Sasuke was in front, Sakura and Naruto were at the sides, and Kakashi was at the back.

Along the way two puddles were on the road and they stopped.

'_There hasn't been rain in these days, so, this could be a trap,'_ Kakashi said and almost to answer his thoughts, two men jumped out and one of both threw a metal claw, aimed at Tazuna.

"Kakashi-sensei!!!" Sakura screamed as she saw her sensei dead, and pinned to a tree.

'_Looks like we're going to fight these guys alone,' _Naruto thought.

"Naruto, do you have a plan?" asked Sasuke.

"Yep, already thought about it," he grinned.

----

As the plan went into action, Kakashi was hiding behind some bushes while maintaining his chakra signature hidden, too.

"Naruto's plan is going quite well, but I guess it's the time to ruin it to finish the Demon Brothers once and for all."

He jumped from the bushes and landed a surprise attack on the brothers. A quick stab with a kunai's blunt part on both criminal's necks made them unconscious and he tied them to a tree where hunter-nins would find them.

"So, Tazuna-san, what exactly are you hiding from us?" asked Kakashi.

The old man took a face of frustration and spoke, "The bridge that I am building right now is for the benefit of Nami civilians, and since we don't have shinobi in our country, I risked myself walking over to Konoha for escorts so you could defend me from Gato's men."

"Who is this Gato you speak of?"

"Gato is this man who controls the way the money transits through our town. He doesn't want the bridge to be finished because it'll ruin his control by making Nami grow in benefits for the civilians. He wants all the money for himself and will stop at nothing to have me killed."

"Well," he said for his students to hear, "This mission's rank has turned into an A-rank. I'm giving you the decision for us to go back to Konoha and get the respective ninjas for this mission or do you guys want to keep going?"

Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura shared a look, one of determination and they all nodded simultaneously.

Kakashi gave them an eye smile and turned to Tazuna. "So, Tazuna-san, we will continue with you towards Nami."

On their way over, a mist filled the atmosphere and Kakashi stopped the group. Suddenly, from the fog, a sword flew and stuck on a tree. Kakashi knew it very well.

"Haha, so, I never knew I'd find Sharingan no Kakashi all the way in Nami!" said a man on top of the sword, who had his face hidden in bandages, leaving only his eyes.

Kakashi stood defensively in front of his team and Tazuna, and took kunai in his hands. "The Demon of the Mist, Zabuza!" he said in a low voice.

The man cackled and disappeared from view with his sword, Kakashi listened for movement and quickly dodged and attacked from behind. "You're good, Kakashi! But not that much," Zabuza said and melted into a puddle of water.

"Mizu bunshin?!" Kakashi gasped and turned around to hold the giant sword off with the kunai.

"You catch on pretty quick, but I want to see your eye in action. Come on!!!" Zabuza jumped back and took in a stance and Kakashi did the same.

Zabuza lunged forward, his sword poised to kill, and Kakashi lifted his hitai-ate, revealing a three tomoe Sharingan. Predicting the movement, he dodged and leapt away and ran behind Zabuza. He turned around and flicked off Kakashi with his sword, then ran after him.

"Shit!" said Kakashi to himself, and quickly ran through some hand seals. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" A giant fireball flew through the air towards Zabuza.

"You're not gonna get me with that Kakashi!!!" he said and disappeared.

Kakashi looked around trying to find movement, but none came. Suddenly, he heard footsteps from all around him. Eager to find where Zabuza was, he threw several shuriken around him but nothing, but wood being pierced sounded through the fog. He kept his eyes peeled, scanning through what little he could see in the fog, when he felt something rip through his stomach. Looking down, he saw the sword clearly skewering him.

"I expected more from you Kakashi," Zabuza said with a sick cackling as he twister the blade to rip his insides.

"I thought you were a lot more observant," Kakashi said from behind Zabuza, a kunai held at his neck. The Kage Bunshin puffed out of existence.

Zabuza chuckled, "You really are a smart one, eh, Kakashi?" He smirked as the body turned to water.

Kakashi growled and turned around, only to be received by a kick on the face, making him fly towards the lake nearby. He shakily stood on the water and tried to balance himself. Looking around he was suddenly engulfed in a water globe, he stirred in the water and saw Zabuza with his hand keeping contact with the globe.

"Kakashi, you're too easy!" another Zabuza called beside the one holding the globe. "While you're here, maybe I can have some fun with your students."

Kakashi's eyes widened, knowing that he may probably kill the only team he has passed and the client as well. He couldn't die just yet, and he had to find something to do, but what?

Zabuza walked towards the team with a sick killer intent.

----

No way! We're surely going to die by this maniac's giant ass sword! Naruto said to himself in his mind.

"_**Naruto-kun, now's not the time for panicking ok? Here's what you'll do: get your female teammate to defend the client, get the Uchiha to try to distract him someway and you go free Kakashi-san from the water globe. Got it?" **_Arashi said.

Naruto dumbly nodded and looked at his teammates, saying in the Academy sign language the plan. They all nodded, even though Sakura looked nervous, but she tried swallowing her fear and stood defensively in front of Tazuna.

"Haha, making a formation to defend the old man, eh? It doesn't matter, I'll pick you one by one like bugs!" he said sadistically.

Sasuke looked at Naruto and he nodded. Taking that as the signal, Sasuke began to launch a straight forward attack at Zabuza, forming familiar hand seals: "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

The grand fireball flew straight at Zabuza who used a Suiton to steam the flaming ball, rendering useless. Sasuke growled, but it seemed to be working up to now, Naruto was hiding by the trees, flying all the way behind the Zabuza clone and Kakashi. _"Come on, Naruto!!" _was all he could think now and return his attention to the approaching lunatic.

"RRRAAAHHH!!!!" Zabuza yelled as he ran, sword ready to kill, towards Sasuke. Sasuke quickly took out some shuriken, and jumped to the side as the sword barely touched his leg and arm, and then threw the shuriken at them man, only to hear the clinks of metal as they fell to the floor beside Zabuza's blade.

"PATHETIC!!!" Zabuza charged again, this time catching Sasuke by surprise from behind, using the flat part of the sword to bat him to the unforgiving ground with magnificent force.

-----

Naruto saw the small fight between Sasuke and Zabuza and saw that he was simply being thrown like a toy with that sword. Growling in frustration, he returned to the task at hand. Watching the clone Zabuza watch amused at the bit of entertainment he was having, Kakashi was almost out of oxygen.

Flying through the lake, behind the clone and Kakashi, he threw three kunai, each with an explosive tag. Not reacting quick enough, two of the three kunai were deflected by the sword, but one managed to hit the lower thigh of the clone, exploding it along with the bubble, setting Kakashi free.

----

Zabuza turned around and roared angrily. "I should've known the blonde brat was up to something when he disappeared!!! I'LL KILL YOU!"

Being angered he didn't know in which trap he had gotten himself. A pair of hands grew from the ground and grabbed Zabuza's ankles.

"What the fuck?!" he yelled as he couldn't move from the chakra enhanced grip. Staring in front of him, he saw Kakashi run towards him, slashing with a kunai at the nukenin's chest. He screamed in pain, and then abruptly he fell forward limply, on the back of his neck several senbon embedded into the skin.

Everyone stood silently and confused about what had happened. Suddenly, a hunter nin appeared and crouched beside the body of Zabuza. "Thank you for defeating him, fellow shinobi, I have been hunting this man for quite some time, but him being so powerful, and I by myself couldn't get the job done. Now he will finally meet his end."

The hunter nin, then, disappeared via smoke bomb leaving no trace.

Kakashi kept a serious face at the spot they had been, there's just no way several senbon could kill a man, but decided not to worry his students for now. Hiding his Sharingan eye once again, he walked towards his students and client. "Alright, now that that was over, let's keep moving on."

Hastily, they moved from the place and headed for the dock.

* * *

A/N: Yaaayyy!!!! Haha, the only way I made the Zabuza/Kakashi fight was after leaving a pretty big space in this part, I jumped towards the other chapter until I got this idea for the fight and I liked how it got along so, yay me! Hehe, enough fooling around with my weird mind [lol].

So, the usuals: Like it? Dislike it? Needs fixing? Any review is appreciated, any or none, I just like knowing that you read it. =P

Me gusta como la lluvia cae desde el cielo, estas gotas de felicidad que mojan mi piel... ahhh rainy days. X3

- BloodKitsune11


	8. Chapter 8

HELLO!!! Yay, so today was a very horrible day, there was a thunderstorm here and the electricity was cut off and it sucked. I know, then when the lights came on again I was happy but became distracted by a drawing I was editing in GIMP... hehe... but then I though it has been a few days since I updated so I came now... pretty late huh? Oh, well, HERE'S CHAPTER 8!!!

Disclaimer: **[listening to '3P' by An Cafe... so awesome!!! *o* ]**

Dialog system from this chapter forward:

"Normal"

_'Thinking'_

**"Kyuubi" _'Kyuubi thinking'_  
**

**_"Voice"_**

\\Talking through thought \\

* * *

After arriving at the dock, they saw that it was mostly covered in a thick layer of mist, which provided a secure passage towards Nami. Tazuna led the team to a boat where a man stood silently, smoking a pipe to keep warm.

"Tazuna-san," the owner of the boat said in a low voice, "Right this way."

They all got on the boat and sailed into the fog, silently. In a few minutes, a house and a small port appeared and the boat stopped there.

"Thanks," Tazuna said.

"No problem, Tazuna-san," the man said and waited for the ninja to get off and soon he left.

Tazuna, then led the quiet group into the town where people everywhere greeted him with smiles on their faces.

'_He sure is well known in here,'_ thought Naruto.

Naruto and the rest of team 7 settled in the small house that Tazuna offered where he stayed with his daughter Tsunami and her son Inari.

Kakashi, once they all placed their things inside, took them to a place nearby for training. "So, here we are going to do some training, while we're here."

"What type of training?" Sakura asked.

"We'll do some chakra control exercises: the tree climbing exercise," he said and walked up to the tree, placing a foot on the trunk and then the other, and finally he walked up the tree and hung upside down on a branch. "This is what you'll be doing in the meanwhile. Try to concentrate your chakra on your feet, but not too much or you'll end up blowing off from the tree, but not too little either or you'll slip from the tree."

They all nodded and Kakashi decided to sit under a tree to read his perverted book.

---- A few hours later: sunset ----

Sasuke and Naruto were half way through the training because of their chakra control not being too much controlled, like Sakura's, so she had finished the exercise first. Sasuke and Naruto were too stubborn to go away without finishing that the time passed and they were the only ones still there, cutting the tree with the kunais to track their progress.

Sasuke stood back to take a break and kept observing Naruto's progress. He noticed something weird protruding from under his cloak and it shined red.

"Naruto-niisan," he said, making Naruto stop to look at him, "What do you have under that cloak of yours that shines red?" he walked over to Naruto.

Naruto hesitated and tensed. "Um… uh… it's nothing… really," he couldn't figure how to lie to his "brother."

"If it's nothing then you wouldn't be so nervous to show me."

Naruto didn't know what he should do and gave up, Sasuke would've found out sooner or later. He sighed and began to unbutton the cloak, and then took it off.

Sasuke looked attentively as his expression changed from interest to shock. From Naruto's back, two magnificent black wings stretched, feeling the cool breeze from the trees.

"Naruto… those wings…" Sasuke walked to his back to see the structure of the wings and from where exactly they stuck from.

Suddenly, the bushes in front of Naruto and Sasuke began to shuffle. Protectively, Naruto stood firm in front of Sasuke and stretched his wings defensively.

"Naruto," the voice came from their one and only silver-headed, one-eyed, perverted sensei, Kakashi, "I should've know you were going to have those wings with you," he eye smiled.

Naruto's wings folded as his posture changed, "How did you know?"

"I kinda figured it out myself, and I've been your sensei for a few weeks and I know everything there is to know about you guys… I think I have enough information, though."

Naruto became silent and took his cloak, placing it over his wings carefully. "I'll take a break from training, ok? I'm gonna walk around the forest for a while." And with that, Naruto jumped to a branch and disappeared from sight.

Making sure he was at a considerable amount of distance away from them, Naruto stood by a cliff with a view of Nami. He sat down as if a heavy weight was pulling him down. He breathed heavily as his eyes dilated, and then he closed his eyes as he fell to his back.

Suddenly when he opened his eyes, he appeared in a sewer of some type, the water was ankle deep and he noticed he had no shirt on, so his wings were free to move. Naruto jerked his head in the direction of a hallway where a loud and booming cackling came from.

He ran as quickly as he could until he found a giant room where a huge golden cage was held closed by a seal tag. Walking slowly to it, he stumbled back, nearly falling, as the booming laughter blew at him from the cage.

"**My, my… the jailor finally pays a visit to his prisoners," **said an echoing voice from the cage, where a pair of red gleaming eyes and a large fanged grin floated.

"_**I would like you to stop scaring the child, can't you see**__…?" _said a voice of a man beyond the cage as well.

"**You're always soft with children, ningen, why don't you come and see?"**

_**~SIGH~ "Fine, but I'll just be watching."**_

Naruto seemed confused at the conversation between demonic voice and normal male voice. "What are you talking about, and where am I, exactly?"

The two voices fell silent and the hovering eyes appeared again.

"**You, kit, are in your mindscape… since you've had such a rough life your mind reflects your state of sanity."**

"My sanity…? You must mean my mask, right?... Hey, why did you call me 'kit'? Am I some sick joke to you?"

"**So, you don't know who I am?"**

Naruto shook his head and stared curiously.

"**I am the great Kyuubi no Youko, the greatest of all Bijuu! And I must say it's interesting to see that my jailor has the fallen angel wings… So very interesting…"**

Naruto gaped like a fish out of water, "Y-you are the K-Kyuubi?! Wasn't he killed by the Yondaime Hokage?"

"**Hahaha!!! There's absolutely no way a mere mortal could kill a demon! The only way I could be defeated was by a seal."**

"You mean… you're sealed in me?!" he asked, his eyes as wide as the moon.

"**Yes, that's what I mean. So, care to explain why is it you're visiting us?"**

"Um… us? Who's there with you?"

"**Here… haha, a guy who wants to remain unnamed for the time being… until it's necessary he said."**

Naruto stared blankly and kept silent.

"**ARE YOU GOING TO TALK ALREADY OR IS THIS HOW YOU WANTED TO GREET US?!!"**

"Oh, uh… No, no!!! I just… well… I don't know what to say," Naruto let a half hearted laugh.

"_**It's obvious you scared the child, Kyuubi-san."**_

"**Oh, ningen, can't you stop pointing out the obvious?"** Kyuubi said in annoyance.

"_**I'm sorry for trying. Now, Naruto…"**_the male voice started, _**"You must know that we mean no harm and we really didn't want you to feel so outcast from the village."**_

"Says the voice who doesn't want to be discovered," Naruto said sarcastically.

"_**Just because I don't want to be known just yet doesn't mean you have to use such words to hurt me,"**_ the man said in a mocking voice.

"Haha, you know, I wouldn't really care if you are here or not, as long as I know what I really am, have… whatever… then, I can cope with this. I mean, I have hidden my wings since I was five, it wouldn't be any problem to accept this, right?"

"_**I guess…" **_the man said.

"**Kit, I think you should be returning to your surroundings."**

Abruptly, he was shot out of his mindscape and returned to the outside world, his uneasiness still present as a sweat bead ran down his temple.

"_**Naruto-kun… can you still hear me?"**_

Naruto looked everywhere for the voice and noticed it was the same man from his mindscape. "What is it?" he asked out loud.

"_**You don't have to respond out loud, you can just use your thoughts. Well, anyway, I wanted to say that if you want to talk to us while being out of your mindscape, you can simply call us through your mind."**_

\\Oh, ok… can't you just tell me your name, or should I just call you 'annoying voice in my head'? \\

The voice chuckled, _**"You can call me Arashi, for now…"**_

\\Ok, ARASHI-san! So, any idea why was I feeling sick before I got into my mind? \\

"_**I don't know about that, I only know that some of the Kyuubi's youki seeped from the cage and may cause some or not changes to your body."**_

\\CHANGES!!! More than what I have, what can get any worse? \\

"_**It could be anything from extra fox-like appendages to some features like sharp fangs to gaining a pair of extra wings… or nothing at all."**_

\\Why am I worrying then? \\

"_**Just keep a look out for any weird body parts on yourself, ok? Don't say I didn't warn you when something does happen."**_

\\Sure, sure… \\

Naruto heard no more of the voice of Arashi and wiped the sweat forming on his brow. He kept on his sitting position and looked over Nami. "There's nothing better than being able to see something so peaceful from far up," he said and saying the last part made him really want to try to fly over Nami, to stretch his wings.

He smiled and made a few hand seals, making a henge of a giant hawk. His wings stretched and felt the wind run through his feathers, and finally he jumped from the cliff and glided through the air.

* * *

A/N: YOSH!!! How did you like this?! I know, I know, it's too effing short! But he finally meets the Kyuubi and his companion Arashi... I think each and everyone of you knows who he is so no explaining... yet. ;)

So, the usual: Like it? Dislike it? Needs fixing? Hehe, you know I say the same here... I just like knowing people read it cause I like writing this, too.

¡¡¡Wepa, la semana de la puertorriqueñidad!!! ¡Yo 3 mi Borinquen!

- BloodKitsune11


	9. Chapter 9

Waa! I'm back again after 4 days... wooo!!! So you got this update because I was bored and edited this chapter for the upload. Haha, I'm so lazy, but it doesn't seem to show much in here. Oh, well, today's a very important date here in Puerto Rico so there absolutely no classes today!!! WOO!!! XD Anyway, I don't want to bore you with my stupid things, so I'll leave you to the story!!!

Disclaimer: **[Hooray for going to sleep at 1 am and waking up at 3 pm!]**

* * *

Kakashi and Sasuke had returned to Tazuna's house by night fall where they were hoping to see if Naruto had returned first than them. Entering the home, they didn't feel his chakra signature.

"Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke-kun, where's Naruto-san?" asked Sakura who ran down the hall to where both were.

"I thought he would be here first than us…" Kakashi said, and suddenly, he felt the familiar chakra signature of the blonde. He turned outside and left both students confused by his sudden leave.

Sasuke and Sakura began to follow Kakashi and stared where he was staring up at the dark sky lit by the moonlight. Kakashi's head was turned away from them when, from his mouth, he produced a deafening whistle. Sasuke and Sakura plugged their ears with their hands, but kept their eyes on the sky, trying to see what Kakashi had seen.

Suddenly, a flapping of wings was heard and right in front of them, a human-sized black hawk landed.

They all stared at the hawk and its cerulean eyes stared back.

"Naruto, would you like to get out of the henge, please?" asked Kakashi to the hawk.

Sasuke and Sakura heard the hawk sigh and with a puff of smoke, Naruto appeared with his arms crossed. "You never let me have my fun."

"NARUTO-KUN, KAKASHI-SAN, SASUKE-KUN, SAKURA-CHAN, DINNER IS READY!!!" yelled Tsunami from inside the house.

The shinobi and kunoichi dragged their feet inside the house and rounded up on the table where the food was already served.

They ate quickly and they got to their rooms. Naruto sat by the window to stare at the moon and promptly nodded off.

---- Inside the Seal ----

"**Heheh, so 'Arashi', what do you think of the kit?" **the Kyuubi laughed.

"_**What is it you're trying to do with the youki you slipped through the cage?"**_ queried Arashi.

"**Oh, nothing really, just wait and then you'll find out,"** the Kyuubi said mischievously. **Let's see the kit hide these!!! **

From the cage a fairly big amount of youki spread through the mindscape.

"_**KYUUBI!!! What have you done?!!!" **_Arashi said angrily.

The Kyuubi said nothing and began to laugh evilly.

----------

Naruto awoke feeling sick again, but this time, he knew something was definitely wrong. His hands were sweaty, and his body felt cold, and his eyes ached and burned.

"Gah, my eyes!" he whispered rather loudly as he rubbed his eyes.

He ran out of the bedroom and into the nearest bathroom and inspected his eyes. They looked a little bloodshot, but they ached too much for him to stay with his eyes open for too long.

Turning on the water from the sink, he splashed his face a few times and the aching seemed to subdue a little and he sighed in relief. Watching his eyes again, he saw the lower eyelids turn deep red. Leaning closer to the mirror, a bloody tear ran slowly down his cheeks and he stared wide eyed.

"Blood from my eyes?" he whispered terrified of the bleeding eyes. Naturally, he would've yelled at the top of his lungs but he kept in control and kept staring at himself.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and he gasped in surprise.

"Naruto? Would you hurry up, you're taking too long," Kakashi said from beyond the door.

"I, um… I'll be out in a few," he managed to say. He returned to the mirror and wiped the bloody tears from his eyes and cheeks, a flash of a dark color went through his eyes which made him double look at his irises. _"What the fuck is happening to my eyes?" _he asked himself.

He shrugged, not seeing any more blood left, folding his wings neatly on his back; he opened the door and saw Kakashi leaning against the wall with his orange book hiding his lower face and his unruly silver hair hiding his left eye.

"Finally," Kakashi said as he eye smiled and walked into the bathroom.

Naruto walked back to his room and made sure to lock it. He rested on the bed face down and his mind began to run through the event again and again. But, soon enough, he fell asleep.

---- Inside the Seal ----

"_**KYUUBI, WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DO THAT?!" **_Arashi yelled at the top of his lungs.

"**Because, ningen, I can do anything here. And I found out that that little something was hiding in the Seal. I mean, what use is a very helpful skill when it's locked?" **The Kyuubi cackled loudly.

"_**That was meant to be unlocked when he was older and ready for it," **_Arashi frowned.

"**Haha! Sorry to disappoint you, then. I'm just doing whatever I think the kit needs to survive. After all, he's an interesting mortal."**

--------

The next morning, Sakura began pounding at the door of the winged blonde and Sasuke waited patiently in the living room of Tazuna and Tsunami.

"NARUTO!!! Hurry up, Kakashi-sensei said we have to guard over the construction site of the bridge."

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Naruto replied as he hurried to place on his shirt and the cloak. Just as quickly, he opened the door and almost crashed into Sakura's fist.

Sakura growled and stomped towards Sasuke and Kakashi.

"Alright, today only two of you will be guarding over Tazuna-san, while the other one and I set perimeter around the construction just in case, ok? Well, Sakura and Sasuke, you'll be the ones guarding over Tazuna-san while Naruto and I set perimeter," Kakashi ordered.

A collective of "Hai's" were heard and they all set to do their job. Sasuke and Sakura walked with Tazuna towards the bridge while Kakashi and Naruto jump through trees to set traps and other signaling things so they can know when an intruder is coming.

Kakashi and Naruto were just finishing the set up and they lowered to a small plain where they could see over entire crew and fellow teammates.

"So, Naruto, what happened that you were stuck for so much time in the bathroom?" Kakashi said.

"Oh, it was nothing to worry about. You know personal stuff."

Kakashi raised the visible eyebrow and stared at Naruto. "Sure…"

Naruto got a feeling that he may be thinking of _other_ stuff and mentally slapped his face.

"I was so sure I felt a surge of chakra yesterday…" Kakashi said.

"Chakra?" asked Naruto.

"Yeah, Naruto… I need to ask something first before I do anything."

"Ask away…" Naruto stared suspiciously at the silver haired Jounin.

"You know of the Kyuubi no Youko, right?" he said as he stared at the far away birds.

Naruto slowly nodded, thinking for a few seconds. "Is it about him being sealed in me?"

Kakashi's head whipped towards Naruto and his eye widened, "You know? How did you find out?"

"The Kyuubi himself told me, and don't ask me how I did that, but I met him."

Kakashi kept quiet and stared at the ground, his hand on his chin. "Has anything weird happened to you lately?"

"Why?" asked Naruto, perplexed.

"It's probably associated with the Kyuubi's release of youki into your system…" Kakashi started.

Naruto quickly interrupted Kakashi, "That's the same thing this other voice said, that the Kyuubi had begun to leak some youki thing out of the seal."

"Another voice? But, wait… the Kyuubi IS leaking youki out of the seal?!" Kakashi grabbed Naruto by his shoulders. "That must mean that the chakra I felt yesterday was the Kyuubi's chakra being discharged!"

"What?!" Naruto yelled, the stress the surroundings are causing mixed with Kakashi's questioning was making his eyes burn and itch again. He rubbed his eyes slowly with his hands, but not so much after rubbing his eyes, they began to feel wet and a tear left his right eye.

Kakashi seemed to have stopped his entire body from moving or doing anything as his eye stuck to the bleeding ones of Naruto, also noticing his eyes flicker dark red.

"Naruto… your eyes…" he was stupefied by the fact that he possessed such eyes. "How is it you have this extremely rare doujutsu?"

"A doujutsu?" Naruto asked, wiping the blood from his eyes and cheeks.

"That doujutsu is called 'Shichigan' ('Death blood eye'), it got its name centuries ago in an unknown clan who used the blood from their tears as poisons. It's said that the blood from their tears carried the use of poison controlled by the person, so it could place a simple virus to a fatal one. Or, the blood can also be used as a curing agent for any poison or venom and injuries, too. Even though it was a rumor, some say that they rubbed the blood on any wounds and it could heal them in minutes."

Naruto locked onto Kakashi as if he had grown a second head. "My eyes can do all that?"

Kakashi chuckled, "I guess you can say that, but don't tell Sasuke or Sakura. This can be our secret just in case anything happens, ok?"

Naruto nodded and felt as an awkward silence fell for both.

* * *

A/N: Consider this "filler" material because I tried to make this long, but obviously it isn't. This is the shortest chapter of all, without including the prologue, up until now that is, there's probably more "filler"-like chapters coming if I get horrible writer's block (HATE IT!!!). But I'm quite happy with myself for coming this far on a story that's being updated regularly in a website, so... YAY ME! Lol.

Ok!! The usual questions: Like it? Dislike it? Needs fixing? Review if you wanna, I just like knowing people read it.

¡¡Puerto Rico tiene ya 516 años de su descubrimiento!! [Today's the discovery of Puerto Rico 516 years ago by Christopher Columbus] Isn't it easier to say Cristóbal Colón instead of Christopher Columbus?

- BloodKitsune11


	10. Chapter 10

Whoo!!! Again, yah, I know, I wanted to update this story as I have nothing to do. For those who take their time to read these, I thank you because then I wouldn't have to make a complete page with an A/N simply saying that I have to place this in a few days without any updates because I'm getting a pretty bad writer's block. I know what I want to write but it doesn't come out as I want it to. So, I said it and don't go saying "She's ditching the story!!!" I'm not... I still have 2 more chapters already written but being looked at for any errors and the 1/3 of another chapter. Sorry for disappointing you in any way possible... I know I say sorry a lot, people tell me that.

Now that I'm done: ONWARDS!

Disclaimer: **[I need to research for this story to go on because I really want you all to like my hard work]**

* * *

Sasuke and Sakura were watching over the crew and were marveling the structure of the bridge and how it was coming along. But neither was as excited to be there because they were doing nothing but watch over the people there.

Sasuke scanned the surroundings and still hasn't caught sight of Kakashi or Naruto, as he was expecting. _'I guess they are still setting up their perimeter or maybe they're talking or something.'_

Sakura stared at Sasuke, a small blush on her cheeks, and fidgeted as her thoughts and her inner self were making many embarrassing and… err… perverted thoughts. But her train of thought was broken in a matter of seconds when Kakashi and Naruto appeared in front of both.

"So, we already set the perimeter. How about Naruto and you," he pointed at Sasuke, "Go keep training?"

Sasuke and Naruto nodded and went away, leaving Sakura frowning and Kakashi reading his perverted book.

------

Sasuke and Naruto end up in the same plain where the kunai marked trees still stood. They stood in front of their trees and started running to them, gathering their chakra at their feet, they began to escalate the tree. Both ran and ran, until both broke from the tree trunk, slashing at the bark.

Sasuke looked to his side and saw Naruto falling too. "Oi, isn't it easier if you just glide down with your wings?"

Naruto stared at Sasuke, "That would be cheating, would it?" he grinned and eventually they both gathered chakra at their feet to soften their landing.

The same went for half an hour until both made it to the top branch of their trees. Glancing at the horizon, both boys breathed the pure oxygen and their hair flowed with the breeze.

"It feels good up here, doesn't it, Naruto-niisan?" Sasuke said his voice calm.

"Yep, just as I would like to fly through…" Naruto said, unconsciously unfolding his wings to feel the wind through the feathers.

"I bet that is how birds feel when they fly, right?" Sasuke glanced at Naruto.

"I guess," Naruto said, his head suddenly jerking down.

Sasuke did the same thing, sensing Kakashi's chakra and Sakura's, too. Naruto folded his wings when Kakashi and Sakura landed on the top of two other trees.

"So, you finally made it?" Kakashi eye smiled at both.

"You know that we would, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto gave a thumbs-up in front of him along with his trademark grin plastered across his face.

"Come, I'm sure Tsunami-san would have something for us to eat," Kakashi began climbing down along with Sakura.

Sasuke stared down and began to slowly climb down as well, but felt that Naruto hadn't moved an inch. "Are you coming?"

"I'll get there faster if I fly," Naruto said and ran through some hand seals, "Henge!" A poof of smoke took over the place Naruto stood and there emerged the same dark hawk that stood at night in front of Tazuna's house. "Wanna come?"

Sasuke looked down and back at Naruto, a smile on his face. "Sure, if it's safe, of course."

Naruto stretched his powerful wings and jerked his head, indicating to hop on his back. Sasuke jumped to the branch he was on and then to the feathery back of the dark hawk.

"Here we go!" Naruto said and took off, glancing down as they passed Sakura and Kakashi.

In few minutes, they landed in front of Tazuna's house. Naruto and Sasuke entered the house and waited for Sakura and Kakashi.

"Where are Kakashi-san and Sakura-chan?" asked Tsunami as the boys passed through the kitchen.

"They're coming shortly, so don't worry, ok?" Naruto said and kept walking with Sasuke.

Sasuke looked at Naruto and with a tired expression on his face he said: "I'm going to go rest a bit, ok?" and then went inside his room.

Naruto walked to his own room and sat on the bed and began to meditate. Once he opened his eyes, he was right where he wanted. Trudging through the sewer-like mindscape, he came upon the golden cage of the Kyuubi.

"You nine-tailed fur ball, what the fuck did you do to my eyes?!" he yelled.

"**Brat, you should learn to respect your superiors!" **the Kyuubi snarled, his paw slashing at the bars, which stood unharmed.

"_**I agree with Naruto-kun here, Kyuubi-sama,"**_ Arashi said, _**"I wouldn't have unlocked such a power yet until he was of age."**_

"**Stupid ningen, there is no age for such a doujutsu!!!"**

"SHUT UP!!!" Naruto yelled, gaining the attention of both prisoners, "Why did you have to place this eyes on me?! Isn't there some clan out there who has these same eyes and will wonder why an outsider should have it?! WHY!"

"**Heheh, such might in your voice, but yet these questions are best left unanswered… yet."**

"Arashi…?" Naruto glanced at the space where the source of the "hmm" came from.

"_**Hmm…?" **_Arashi said as Naruto glanced at his place, _**"I'm afraid I would agree with Kyuubi-sama here. It's better if you learn this when you are ready."**_

Naruto lowered his head and sat on the ankle-deep water. Lifting his head, he stared at the cage, as if intending to burn it's contains.

"_**Glowering at us won't do you any good, Naruto-kun."**_

Naruto stood up and began to stomp through the water and towards the cage.

"**Where do you think you're going, kit?"**

Naruto didn't respond but stood in front of the cage and held the giant bars, peering inside. He could make up a giant animalistic form with many tails and beside the beast was a person, who seemed to have spiky hair and was in a sitting position watching attentively at him.

'_**What could this boy be attempting?'**_Kyuubi thought.

Naruto hesitated and placed a foot inside, then the other, and finally he began to slowly walk inside the cage.

"**I wouldn't come any closer if I were you, kit,"** Kyuubi walked forward but his shaped shrunk and became… human?

Naruto stopped on his tracks and stared at the approaching figure. From the shadows, a pale, clawed hand gripped his shoulder.

"**You should get out of the cage now, boy,"** Kyuubi said calmly, coming out of the shadows and started pushing Naruto out of the cage.

Naruto gaped at the Kyuubi, he could turn into a human form. He had long red hair, blood red eyes with slit pupils, sharp canines, and nine flowing tails behind him. Surprisingly, he was clothed.

"**Stop staring and start walking, kit. Your stare annoys me," **he said and with a final push, Naruto flew from the cage and onto the water outside.

"_**Couldn't you be gentler with him, Kyuubi-sama?"**_

"**No, he should learn not to enter the cage unless called! This is practically the only space that I have and I still have to share it with YOU!"**

"_**Ehh, don't blame me!!!" **_Arasho yelled comically.

Naruto wanted to see more of the argument between Arashi and Kyuubi, but he was taken from his mindscape and saw Sasuke and Sakura staring at him.

"What is it?" he asked.

"How far off do you go in your daydreams, Naruto?" asked Sakura.

"Very far," he simply responded and stood up. "Is dinner already done?"

Sasuke and Sakura nodded and the trio walked out of the room and to the diner room. They all sat around the table, where Tsunami, Tazuna and Kakashi were already sitting.

"Tsunami, is Inari coming to eat?" Tazuna asked his daughter.

"Yeah, I'm guessing he's still in his room," she frowned. "Inari-kun, come and eat!!!" she called.

From down the hall, a creak of a door sounded and then the thumps of footsteps on the wood were heard. At the entrance of the hall stood a kid about 9 years old, dark hair and his eyes were hidden by his hair. He walked slowly to the table and sat, staring at the shinobi.

"Why did you bother to come here and guard the bridge? Gato is going to kill anybody who gets in his way!" he shouted in an outburst, shocking everybody there. "It's no use fighting back, because he's got everything he needs to kill anybody!"

Naruto stared hard at the boy and slammed his fist on the table. "You think you've got it so hard, huh? It sounds like you lost someone to that man, but you haven't moved on. Well, I have suffered far more than anybody has here, I was alone since the very beginning and you don't see me crying over that, do you? I have moved on from all that and I see the brighter side of anything and I have gotten stronger! If you don't move on, you won't have the guts to take care of anybody. You'll only see your world crumble around you because you think that you can't do anything against it."

Inari tried to stifle his tears of anger, but he stood from the table and ran off. "Inari!" Tsunami shouted, but saw that Kakashi stood from the table and walked after Inari.

Sakura stared at Naruto surprised to have heard all that from him. She changed to Sasuke and saw that his face was hidden under his bangs.

They all ate silently and Naruto stood up, leaving in the same dead silence. Sasuke and Sakura left the same manner, then Tazuna and Tsunami.

Sakura ran outside to look for Naruto, since she didn't find him in his room. She looked everywhere and still hadn't found him. She sighed in defeat and climbed to the rooftop to look at the stars. Surprisingly, that was where Naruto was.

"Naruto, I've been looking all over for you."

"What for?" he said, his head supported by his knees as his arms wrapped around them.

Sakura sat beside him and looked at him. "Why did you say that you have been alone since the beginning? I mean, your parents are there, right?"

Naruto tensed and he covered his face with his knees. Sakura saw the reaction and was confused.

"I don't have any parents," Naruto mumbled.

Sakura's eyes widened and stared, but quickly looked away, feeling horrible for asking such a question. "I… I'm sorry, Naruto."

"Don't worry, at least I have made it this far, haven't I?" he said, and looked at Sakura.

'_I have been so mean to him and I didn't know how much it hurt him. I got to make it up to him somehow.' _She stared away, deep in thought.

"Well, um… I'm going to go to my room and get some rest, ok? I suggest you do the same," Naruto stood up and jumped down from the roof.

Sakura slowly stood up and did the same, going inside to her room and sat on the bed to think over what she had done unconsciously towards Naruto that had hurt him.

--------

"Haku, for tomorrow, we are ready to go. I'm surprised you worked fast on my recovery," Zabuza said to the feminine boy.

"Of course, Zabuza-sama, nothing of low quality is given to you."

Zabuza chuckled and took his sword. _'Tomorrow, I'll kill Sharingan no Kakashi!'

* * *

_A/N: My chapters are getting rather short and I'm not liking that, but I think they deliver. Anyway, for those who found the hidden bloodline from last chapter unexpected, THANK YOU!! Seriously, I was debating on what could I place as the result of Kyuu-chan's youki into Naruto's system, and after more than two days looking at different things, like: Wikipedia, other fanfics, superheroes, or any stupid though that included making Naruto look exaggerated, I came upon this though while I was... get ready for the place where I get many ideas..... in the BATHROOM! Does anyone but me find that the bathroom makes the brain come up with excellent ideas?

I've been putting this off for too long now have I? Like it? Dislike it? Needs fixing?

**P.S.** I think I might begin to work on my other project and get it started here while I brainstorm for _Inevitable Wings of Fate_'s later chapters.

VOTE FOR PEDRO!

- BloodKitsune11


	11. Chapter 11

Holy shiz, I'm so sorry I didn't update in such a long ass time!! =( I was having a hard time at school for the finals and I still have one more week and the other Monday to finish this semester! So, yeah, with lots of hard work to get this up, here's chapter 11!!! I hope you like it! =)

Disclaimer: **[School's almost over and Christmas is almost here!! XD]**

* * *

Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura were up for an hour, preparing for their everyday duties and waiting for Naruto to wake up.

"Gosh, how much can he sleep?" Sakura said, thumping her foot on the floor.

Kakashi was reading his little orange book, while Sasuke was leaning against the wall staring at the ceiling. Suddenly, the ceiling shook, then a loud thud was heard, followed by a groan.

"Naruto's up," Sasuke simply said.

They stared at the halls as Naruto ran from his bedroom to the bathroom and back, and after a few minutes of silence Naruto appeared in front of them.

"Phew, haha, sorry I woke up late, the alarm didn't go off," he rubbed the back of his head.

Kakashi closed the orange book and looked at Naruto. "So, we're all here. Ok, I'll assign you all your work and such for the day. Since the bridge is almost done, except for a few reinforcements of metal here and there and the check for its stability, we'll be going in three man teams and one will be left behind here, just in case," Kakashi sighed, "Well then, Naruto, I'm afraid you'll be the one that will be left here. Sasuke, Sakura and I, we'll go with Tazuna-san and his workers to the bridge."

"What?! Why am I the one who has to be left here alone?!" Naruto protested.

Kakashi sighed once again, "Because, Naruto, if something is to happen here, I'm sure you have enough intellect to protect Tsunami-san and Inari-san perfectly. And also, I believe there's always some training to do even if it's just reviewing."

Naruto growled and scoffed, "Oh, alright, and if I ever get the feeling I'm needed at the bridge, I'm going even if you don't need me!" Naruto finalized and breathed deeply.

"I know you'll do great, Naruto-kun," Kakashi eye smiled at Naruto. "Well, we'll see you later, come on, we have to catch up to Tazuna-san," he said to the other two and they all disappeared, leaving Naruto alone.

Naruto sighed and trudged back to his room. "I woke up for nothing, practically, ugh!" he mumbled and threw himself at the bed.

----- A few hours later -----

A loud crack of a breaking door and the ear piercing shattering of many plates ran through Naruto's ears. He pulled himself up from the bed and walked silently towards the door, readying his weapon's holster. Peeking out, he saw two thugs: one had an unconscious Tsunami on his arms and the other was trying to look for Inari, who was hiding. He growled and ran out of the room.

"Hey, you, what are you doing attacking innocent people, you bastards!" he yelled.

The thug holding Tsunami placed her down and smirked at Naruto. "So, the blonde kid wants to play, huh?" he said and urged Naruto to attack.

"Don't worry, brother, he won't get past me," said the other thug and charged at Naruto.

Naruto scoffed and dodged the tackle easily, landing behind the man running towards him and gave a swipe at the man's shins, making him fall to his knees.

"Don't ever underestimate me!" Naruto said delivered a kick to the side of the man's head, knocking him out cold. Turning around, he faced the shocked man staring at his unconscious brother on the floor.

"Ahh, please, I'll give you the girl! Don't kill me!!" he pleaded.

Naruto gave a serious face and stared at his eyes. "Never again will you ever do something like touch a woman wrongfully or you shall pay the consequences!" he said, but nevertheless gave the man a punch in the gut, leaving him breathless on the floor while gripping his stomach.

Naruto picked up Tsunami and laid her on the couch. Inari quickly came out of hiding and hugged his mother. Letting go of his mother, he looked up at Naruto, "Th-thank you… for saving Okaasan and me from Gato's thugs."

This made Naruto smile, "No problem, I will defend anybody here, no matter what…" he jerked his head in direction of the bridge. "Oh, shit…" he whispered.

"What is it, Naruto-san?" asked Inari.

"Something's happening at the bridge… I just know it!" Naruto hesitated looking at both.

Inari gave him a small smile and thumbs up. "Go for it! I will take care of these guys with some rope and tie them down," Inari said, his smile growing.

"I trust you, Inari-san, ok? I'll be back later," Naruto said with a grin of his own and ran towards the open window, jumping from it. He stretched his wings and picked up height and speed to get faster to the bridge. Staring down, he saw it was covered in a thick mist. _'Oh, no, this means… the Zabuza guy is here again!!!' _He swooped down into the fog and gripped a branch to swing himself inside.

----- A few moments before -----

Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura were silently staring at the unfinished bridge, but there was an uneasy atmosphere there. Kakashi closed his orange book and began to look around, feeling worried. _'This presence right now… it has to be!'_

Sasuke noticed Kakashi's anxiousness but decided not to question him, but he tried to use the silence to his benefit to sense anything around him. A sense of overwhelming fear gripped his body and his eyes widened. _'No way, that man, he's still alive!'_

Sakura stood as clueless as ever; staring at Sasuke with glazed eyes, thinking about him and him only, the only thing the feeling of the presence around caused her to shiver. She became aware of her surrounding and felt something wrong, but she couldn't quite place her finger on it.

Suddenly a thick fog began to spread over the bridge and the area around them. Kakashi quickly stood and ran ahead, urging the pair to follow. Just when they got to the bridge, the thick fog had set in.

"Hahaha!!! Sharingan no Kakashi, ready to die?!" screamed the omnipresent voice of Zabuza.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes, "Show yourself!!!" Kakashi listened for footsteps and was suddenly thrown to the side by the flat side of Zabuza's sword.

"Hehe, I'm here and I'll make sure you'll die under my hand," he addressed Kakashi. "Haku, go play with the others!"

A blur flew past Zabuza saying: "Of course, Zabuza-sama," and went towards Sasuke and Sakura.

"Sakura, Sasuke, go find Tazuna-san and make sure he's safe!" Kakashi ordered as he began to fight Zabuza in a flurry of slashes, kicks and punches.

Sakura and Sasuke began to run towards the bridge to find Tazuna, but they felt the presence of someone closing in.

"Sakura, go to Tazuna, I'll fight this guy," he stopped to face the incoming enemy.

Sakura looked at Sasuke, her hand on her racing heart. "Sasuke-kun… ok, but please be safe!!!" she said and began to run.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and fell on his battle stance and in front of him a female-like figure with a red-marked white mask stood. "I'll be your opponent."

"As you wish," the feminine voice of the boy ran through the air and he began to make one handed seals. "Haku no hijutsu: Makyou Hyoushou!" Around both boys a dome with various mirrors appeared and the feminine boy sank into one. "No one who has ever gotten inside this dome has survived. I warned you."

Sasuke kept in his stance and stared at his opponent. "Well, then I'll be the first one to get out of here and defeat you." He began to make hand seals and placed a hand over his mouth. "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!" A large fire blew from his mouth and towards the crystals, surely they would melt. As the fire receded, the crystal was still intact and showed no signs of melting in the intense heat from the fire.

"These crystals are unbreakable, now you know why no one has gotten out and you won't be the first one," Haku said and he multiplied himself in the mirrors. "Prepare to die," he said and all clones took out senbons and began to throw them.

Sasuke saw as all the senbon surrounded him in a cloud of needles and he didn't know a technique that could help, so he got a kunai out and began to try and deflect them. Just when they began to fall upon him like rain, he heard something shatter and a thud right beside him. "Naruto-niisan!"

Naruto looked back at Sasuke and smiled, "Looks like I got here just in time."

"Why didn't you attack from outside, now we're both trapped here!" Sasuke said and prepared his kunai in front of him. He felt Naruto's back to his and smirked. "We'll do things this way then?"

Naruto grinned, "Of course, until you get that Sharingan of yours, I'll be here to act as something similar."

Haku and his clones readied more senbon, "It seems you both have made your death wish. So be it!" They all threw the senbon at the same time and began to make rounds of senbon afterwards.

Both Genin began to deflect senbon at high speeds but even so, some began to hit them on their arms and legs.

"We've only just started and we're being hit," Naruto said and began to pluck some on his arms, but making sure Sasuke wasn't watching him as his eyes began to trickle some blood, but wiped it off quickly.

Sasuke grunted and grimaced as one had embedded the bone on his knee, but got it out anyway.

"You wouldn't last any longer in here," Haku said and began to make another round of senbon.

"Gah, these needles won't stop, huh?" Naruto commented, but kept deflecting as much as he could, suddenly, one caught him on his left arm and limped to his side, letting go of the kunai. "What the…" he fell to his knees as another on hit both his legs. "Sasuke-niisan, these senbon are poisoned!! AAAGHH!!" another senbon hit on the back his neck and he fell unconscious.

Sasuke panted as the last of the senbon bounced off his kunai. "Naruto!!" he ran to him and took out the senbon, "Damn it!" He noticed Naruto open back his eyes and looked at him.

"Sasuke, I'm alright," he struggled to get back up, "I can heal fast remember?" he grinned and turned away from Sasuke, wiping another tear from his eye, "This guy can't have infinite senbon and chakra, so he's bound to get chakra exhaustion soon."

"Right," Sasuke smirked and began to make their same formation.

"So you're going to keep this up, huh? Fine, I'll make the best of what I do and I shall guarantee your death," Haku said, and began to make a barrage of poisoned senbon, a more potent one at that.

They both kept their formation firmly and tried to deflect all they could. But when the barrage ended, both bodies fell to the floor. They breathed heavily as the poison coursed through their veins, and in Naruto's case, his eyes were continually bleeding. _'Damn this self-triggering doujutsu!'_

"_**Actually, for it to stop the bleeding, you have to train your eyes, Naruto-kun,"**_Arashi said from the back of Naruto's head.

\\Is there something I can do right here to stop it?! \\

"_**I think I can seal it off for a few minutes."**_ That was the last of Arashi in those few seconds. Naruto couldn't keep the fast acting poison from overriding his body and became unconscious.

Sasuke groaned and looked at the floor, "Damn this! We'll get killed before we know it!" he murmured to himself.

"What's that, surely your wish will be my command," anyone could pick up the intentions from his voice, "I'll make sure you watch your blonde friend die first." Haku threw a wave of poisoned senbon towards Naruto and Sasuke's eyes widened.

"NOO!!!" Sasuke yelled, surprisingly springing to his feet and ran to defend his brother/best-friend figure.

"_His eyes, were those the… the… Sharingan! He awakened the Sharingan!!!" _Haku thought in surprise, but he didn't let it show. "You'll never make it on time, Uchiha!"

Sasuke ran as fast as he could before the deadly rain fell on Naruto. Taking two kunai on his hands he crossed them in front of him and closed his eyes, waiting for the senbon to embed on his body. "I'll defend Naruto-niisan no matter what!"

_~SILENCE~

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_A/N: So how was this? I was thinking too much when I wrote this one and it had me doing lots of erasing and writing. I don't know how to make action scenes and it's very quite obvious, so go ahead and give me advice in how to make them better for your own reading entertainment, because after this arc is over its on with the Chuunin exams!! Woo!! I'm happy and not so happy at the same time, but I don't want to bore you with personal life. =)

Usual questions: Like it? Dislike it? Needs fixing? Tell me, seriously, nothing bugs me.

"¡¡¡Porque ahora es que comprendo que aunque pase lo que pase yo seré puertorriqueño, por donde quiera que ande, oohh, porque lo llevo en la sangre por herencia de mis padres yo con orgullo repito: YO TE QUIERO PUERTO RICO, YO TE QUIERO PUERTO RICO!!!" - Marc Anthony 'Preciosa'

- BloodKitsune11


	12. Chapter 12

Holey shizz, again!!! It's been too long to keep people waiting... SUMIMASEN! Dx Well, I'm in finals so my inspirations been not good, its too much stress that pretty much gets me writer's block. So, for those who have finished and are snug in their homes enjoying winter, good for you... I finish on Monday with the History final. (HATE HISTORY!) So, wish me luck. I don't wanna keep you waiting to read (for those who take their time reading these notes at the beginning and at the end of the chaps... thanks!!!)

Disclaimer: **[FINALS!!!! UUGGHH!!! DX**  
_

* * *

~SILENCE~_

Naruto lifted his head as consciousness came over him and wiped the blood from his eyes, but he quickly stared in shock at what stood in front of him. "Sasuke!!!!" He caught the porcupine body of the dark-headed boy and set it slowly on the ground at his knees. "Sasuke!" he murmured.

"N-Na-ru-to…" he heard the unusually weak voice from the Uchiha, "I… de-fended y-you just like a… a brother w-would," Sasuke gave a weak smile, and almost instantly, the Sharingan eyes faded and then they closed.

"Sa-Sasuke…" Naruto said slowly as he hung his head, his eyes out of view. Around him, a demonic aura began to thicken.

---- Inside the Seal ----

"**RAAHH!!! Let me kill that son of a bitch!" **Kyuubi began to be blinded by the rage felt by Naruto.

"_**Kyuubi-sama, CONTROL YOURSELF!!! You're going to get Naruto-kun under your bad youki's influence!!"**_ Arashi tried as best as he could to make the nine-tailed giant calm, but it was obvious that his connection with the Jinchuuriki would channel the current feel.

---- Normal view ----

"You… you killed my brother…" Naruto said and lifted his head to look directly at Haku, his now fox-like, red eyes with slit pupils oozing enormous amount of killer intent, **"YOU'LL PAY WITH YOUR BLOOD FOR THAT!!!"** In the eerie light reflecting from the crystal mirrors, the features on his face were more noticeable, his deepened whisker-marks, and his much spikier hair; his sharper nails and canines were also visible.

Haku froze in place, _"This chakra, the boy… what in the world?!"_ He moved from his mirrors as quickly as possible as he saw Naruto begin attacks towards the mirrors.

"**COME HERE YOU FUCKING COWARD!!!"** Naruto yelled as he flew from the mirrors and floated in the middle as he stared at the reflections of Haku in each of them. He smirked and slowly began to laugh evilly, **"NOTHING YOU'LL DO WILL AFFECT ME!"** He began to gather enough chakra at his center and released it all at once, sending a chakra wave through the mirrors, which seemed to do the trick and each began to shatter.

"_No way, what is this kid!!!"_ Haku threw himself off the last mirror and was immediately picked up by the clawed hand of the blonde.

"**PREPARE TO DIE!!!"** Naruto said as his wings were expanded behind him, the feathers looked affected by the youki, making them as sharp as blades.

"Kill me, quickly," Haku said with no hesitation.

Naruto was taken aback by the expression, **"YOU'RE WILLING TO DIE SO EASILY?!"**

"Of course," Haku took off his chipped mask, "I would willingly die for Zabuza-sama for I am his tool."

The words this boy that looked a few years older than him left him surprised, but his demonic aura never moved. **"A tool?! A TOOL?!!! YOU STUPID BRAT, HOW COULD YOU SIMPLY ADDRESS YOURSELF AS A MERE TOOL TO THAT FOOL THAT CALLS HIMSELF A 'DEMON'! AM I NOT THE THING HE CLAIMS TO BE?!"**

"Yes, you have made yourself clear that you're a demon, but, I am a tool. I was taken in by Zabuza-sama because I was near death and he took care of me, so in debt of what he did, I became his tool. My everyday goal is to make sure I am of service to him, but in this moment I am but a mere blunt item that is to be discarded."

"**You fool," **the youki influenced Naruto threw Haku to the ground and stared at him. **"Go to your master as you please." **He walked off back to Sasuke's body.

----

Haku couldn't believe what he was hearing. This demon kid was letting him go? He watched quietly from the spot he was let down at the blonde, who made his way towards the boy he called 'brother'. Suddenly, he heard something that made his heart skip a beat. "ZABUZA-SAMA!!!" He went off running towards the finale of the battle between Kakashi and Zabuza.

----

Naruto calmed himself down and felt as the aura disappeared. His eyes took his cerulean color and their pupils their roundness, his hair became the usual spikiness, his teeth became normal and so did his whisker-marks and nails. He walked slowly towards Sasuke and took off all the senbon.

\\Arashi-san, I need the doujutsu again to be activated. \\

"_**Of course."**_

Instantly, blood began to run down his face and he used his hand to wipe some and began to apply them on the poisoned wounds on his friend. _"Come on, he's still alive, but his pulse is slowing by the second!" _Right before his eyes, he saw that the blood, as said by Kakashi, can be used to heal wounds, the wounds were healing quite rapidly and a transparent liquid ran from it. The breathing on Sasuke stabled and Naruto placed him on his back, but he got distracted as he heard Haku yell his "master's" name.

----

Kakashi's eyes widened as his Chidori hand rammed through Haku's chest, he could tell Zabuza was also shocked, to say the least, that his apprentice had done that to save him.

"Haku!" Zabuza yelled as the damaged body of Haku fell beside him.

"Za-buza-sa-ma…" he said almost out of voice.

"Haku, you were so much more than just a tool to me…" Zabuza said, "You were a reliable partner and friend ever since I found you."

Haku's misty eyes stared confusedly at Zabuza. "I'm… glad, Zabuza-sama… g-good bye…" he drew his last breath and closed his eyes, his face looked rather peaceful.

Zabuza growled in anger, but he cocked his head forward as he heard someone clap.

---

Kakashi stared at the scene before him, he couldn't help but feel uneasy, but he heard footsteps run towards him and saw the dark cloaked blonde run towards him.

"Naruto, what happened?" he asked. "Is Sasuke…?"

"Yeah, he's alright, I, uh, had a chance to clear the poison in him with my…" he pointed at his eyes.

Kakashi simply nodded in understanding, "Where's Sakura?" and he stared to his side just when Sakura came running towards them.

"Sasuke-kun!!! Oh my Kami, what happened?!!" she yelled.

Kakashi exhaled slowly, "I'll explain later, ok, Sakura?" he said. Suddenly, a clapping noise came from a few feet away from them and they all looked at the source.

"Well, Zabuza-san, looks like you didn't even manage to kill a team of brats and the old man. How disappointing, but I wasn't going to pay you anyway," said a short man dressed in a suit with dark glasses.

"GATO! You violated the contract," Zabuza growled and stood up.

The suited man smirked, "Kill him," he addressed at the men he had around him. They all charged towards Zabuza.

"You, blondie, put that kunai in my mouth," he said to Naruto.

Naruto looked quizzically until he saw that Zabuza's arms were disfigured, almost literally destroyed, but nevertheless he placed the kunai in his mouth. Zabuza charged at the men and with surprising expertise as he swung the kunai, stabbing and slashing them and quickly killing them while making his way to Gato.

"You'll die now!" Zabuza yelled, the kunai poised at the jugular, quickly slashing it clean.

Gato didn't have time to even scream, he simply fell to the floor as the blood ran from his wound.

Zabuza finally limped and collapsed halfway, breathing heavily. "Kakashi, take me towards Haku… please," the swordsman said and was carried over to the body of his faithful friend. He laid there and stared at the cold, pale face of Haku. _"I'm sorry, Haku, I know you wished to be with me always, but I surely wish I could be there where you are now,"_ Zabuza thought and he gave a final look to everything and everyone around him and closed his eyes as his body's exhaustion took care of the rest and the dangerous feel around him disappeared.

Naruto and Kakashi stared silently and each took one of the bodies and the Kubikiri no Houcho. "Sakura, take Sasuke to Tsunami's home and escort Tazuna there, too," Kakashi said as he and Naruto began to walk towards the woods.

Sakura's cheeks turned pink, but nodded anyway, hefting Sasuke onto her back, she went towards Tazuna's location to escort him home.

Kakashi and Naruto stopped in a nice area where Nami could be seen in a great view and placed both men down gently, and then began to dig two holes. Finally, after a few hours, they had buried them both and as a symbol, they stuck the sword on the graves to let people know the legendary Demon of the Mist, Zabuza Momochi is buried there.

After paying their respects to the dead, Kakashi and Naruto made their way out of there towards Tazuna's house.

"So, Naruto, you cured Sasuke's wounds with your doujutsu. It was pretty clever, but I still have to make sure it did a very nice healing job," Kakashi said, glancing at Naruto while branch jumping.

"Yeah, I even had to ask the other voice in my head to seal away the doujutsu for a while when I was fighting 'cause it kept tearing up. He said I need to train my eyes, so they don't bleed uncontrollably," Naruto responded quietly.

Kakashi 'hmm'-ed and kept silent until they arrived at Tazuna's. They walked inside and immediately looked for Sasuke, where Kakashi checked the wounds only to find them fully healed and no poison was left in his body, so the blood did work wonderfully.

Team 7 stayed in Nami for some more weeks and took their occasional turn in helping in the bridge until it was finally done and they celebrated the grand opening of the unnamed bridge.

"Well, it looks like we're finally going back to Konoha," Kakashi said, "Thank you all very much for having us here and sorry for all the troubles that were caused."

"Ah, Kakashi-san, no need for 'sorry', you all did an amazing job. Remember to come visit us sometime!" Tsunami said.

Team 7 all said their "good-bye" and waved back and then came out of view from the family.

Inari was by Tazuna's side watching the bridge. "What name should we place on the bridge? Maybe it could be the 'Great Nami Bridge'!"

Inari shook his head in disappointment, "Why not the 'Great Naruto Bridge'?"

Tazuna smiled widely and folded his hands on his chest, "Well, that's a great name, Inari-kun," he ruffled Inari's hair and worked his way to his shop to make the bridge's name.

* * *

A/N: So, I'm gonna have to stop here, just so you all know. I'm going to post a little authors note in a separate chap so you don't worry that I'm not lazy, I'm just not getting inspiration enough. It will all be there.

So, how do you like this? I know, I know... it's short!!! *cries and drops to knees* FORGIVE ME PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I won't put the usuals because I would like you to tell me whatever now, really really... cuz I need inspiration and I think one that I would need is some opinions to get my mood up and get these gears rolling.

~SIGH~

"I drink two Capri Suns because I'm badass and because one has a straw and the other one doesn't" - ME

- BloodKitsune11


	13. Chapter 13

HII!! I know it was only like almost two weeks? But, I finally wrote something and it all flowed!!! XD!! Ok, so I took my time and I wrote this chapter and the next, you'll probably see the next chapter by the next few days, but, sorry, not today. =[ Anyway, I know that maybe some of you are eager to read, so with nothing else to say. GO ON!!!

Disclaimer: **[Stuck with 'Running Up That Hill' by Icon & the Black Roses in my head, so awesome!]**

* * *

Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi all walked quickly made it back from the boat ride from Nami and began to make their way into the forest. The night fell slowly and they were two days away from Konoha, at least at the speed they go without a client.

--- Two days later: front gates of Konoha ---

Team 7 stopped at the front gates and the Genins all brightened up as they saw once again their home village. They walked inside and breathed the familiar air and the familiar faces.

"So, Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura you can all go home now and I'll go to Sandaime-sama to report our mission," Kakashi said and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Once the smoke cleared, Sakura turned around to follow her beloved Sasuke home, but both raven-haired and blonde were gone. She growled in annoyance and stomped down the streets towards her home.

--- A week later ---

Sasuke and Naruto went through the middle of busy streets, wondering what's with all the foreign ninja there. Even through the chattering of people Naruto sensed someone following them, glancing over his shoulder, he saw a square rock and he sighed loudly.

"Konohamaru, get out of there," he said and turned around at the sound of multiple feet.

"You surely are the best, huh Boss?!" the young boy said.

Naruto saw another boy behind him and a girl by his side too. "Um, who are they, Konohamaru?"

"I'm Moegi!" the girl said.

"I'm Udon," the boy followed.

"And we're the Konohamaru Corp!" the trio said in a formation.

Naruto sweat dropped and Sasuke mumbled to Naruto, "Are they like you fan club?"

Konohamaru's face brightened, "Of course we are, um… what's your name?" he addressed Sasuke.

"I'm Uchiha Sasuke," he said.

"If anyone's a friend of Boss is a friend of mine! So, looks like we have two bosses!!!" he yelled.

Sasuke kept staring, "I've never seen a more energetic boy than Naruto and here he is."

"So, Boss can we play with you?!!" the trio said.

"Not right now, Konohamaru, we were getting somewhere," Naruto said.

Konohamaru frowned, but quickly grinned, "Maybe next time! See ya later Bosses!!" and they all ran from sight.

Sasuke stared at Naruto, "So, where were we going?"

"Right, we're going to ask Kakashi about the ninja's here," Naruto said and they began to walk in the direction to Kakashi's house when a there was a scream that said 'Help!'

Naruto recognized the scream and went running, leaving Sasuke behind. He caught up to Konohamaru as he was held by his scarf by a teen dressed in a full black attire and face paint with something covered in bandages on his back, and next to him was a girl with dirty blonde hair in four ponytails in a battle dress and a giant something on her back. Both had a Sunagakure hitai-ate.

"Hey, let go of him!" Naruto said.

The boy stared at him with anger and back up at Konohamaru. "No way, this kid needs to respect ninjas from other lands, and he's going to get it." He lifted his fist.

"Kankuro, can't waste any time with these Academy kid, come on or…" the girl trailed off as her face turned to the side and her expression showed fear. "Gaara!"

The boy named Kankuro looked to the side and his expression was the same as the girl with him, and let Konohamaru fall to the ground.

"Kankuro, Temari, you disappoint me," a red-headed boy said with a monotone voice. He had a gourd on his back and a kanji for 'love' tattooed on his forehead.

Naruto sensed something unusual about the 'Gaara' guy; it was giving a sense of power and superiority, as if it were a demon. His eyes widened, but something inside him made him calm down.

"**Kit, don't worry about this guy, he's less strong than you… I recognize the power, one of an old but arrogant friend, it's the Ichibi Shukaku. That prick only seeks to make people insane." ~Scoff~**

\\ So, he's another Jinchuuriki… \\

Naruto looked with a smirk at Gaara and the red-head only stared. Suddenly, Sasuke appeared by Gaara's side and stared at the scene.

"What are you Suna shinobi doing here?" Sasuke questioned, but received nothing but silence.

Gaara snorted and disappeared in a swirl of sand and appearing by his teammates. "Let's go." His teammates immediately obeyed and the trio began to walk away.

"HEY! I hope to have a spar with you one day, Shukaku," Naruto said with a sly smile, making the Suna trio stop.

Gaara looked back at the blonde, and then he impulse the sand from his gourd to rush towards Naruto, wrapping him up to the head. "How do you know, Konoha shinobi?"

Naruto, although breathing heavily at the sand's pressure, let a small chuckle. Sasuke jumped from where he was and stood defensively, "Remove Naruto from your sand, now!"

Gaara paid no attention to Sasuke and concentrated his sight on the blonde, as if trying to blow him up with only his stare. He felt something run through the sand's extent and tingled through his hands and towards his brain. He widened his restless eyes and muttered, "K-Kyuubi…" But, he immediately sharpened his stare and let the sand return to the gourd. "I'll be looking forward to a spar, Kitsune," he said and turned to his teammates, "Let's go." And they disappeared.

Sasuke straightened up and looked at Naruto, "What was that all about?"

Naruto shrugged and turned towards Sasuke, "We should go to Kakashi-sensei now." They were about to walk away when a frightening voice called after them and they shuddered. Turning around they saw the thing they wanted to be away from.

"Sasuke-kun, Naruto-san, Kakashi-sensei called for us in the usual meeting place," said Sakura.

The boys sighed and promptly followed Sakura towards the meeting place in silence, while she tried to get Sasuke's attention the whole way there. They made it there safely and found Kakashi actually there reading his favorite orange book.

"Yo!" Kakashi greeted the silent Genins. "So, I called you here because you all probably noticed the foreign ninja here throughout Konoha. There's something called the Chuunin exams coming soon and I've been thinking that since our return from a few weeks back and having done loads of D-rank missions and training, I could enroll you in the exams," he eye smiled.

The three were having a mix of shock and happiness, but Naruto was the first one to scream.

"Are you serious?!! I mean, REALLY!!!!" he said in excitement and his eyes sparkled anime-style.

Kakashi sweat dropped, "Yeah, I believe you're ready for these… all three of you, but of course we have to train harder!"

"But Kakashi-sensei, won't it be risky? I mean, we've only had almost two months or so from graduating from the Academy," Sakura said.

"I believe in you guys and from what I have seen while being with you, I think it would be stupid of me to pass the moment," Kakashi said with certainty.

Sakura smiled and looked from the edge of her eyes at Sasuke. "I'll do it! I'm going to train my hardest to make Sasuke-kun, Kakashi-sensei and Naruto proud of me!" **'Especially Sasuke-kun, he's gonna be so impressed with me he'll HAVE TO ask me out,'** inner Sakura yelled.

Kakashi eye smiled, "Well, since Sakura finally approved to be in the exams, we have officially the complete Team 7 ready, you only need to fill these in and bring them the day of the exams." He gave each a paper, which contained their information and the date of the exams. "Well, I'll see ya around," he said and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

They read the papers quickly and each plastered a smile on their faces. Sakura couldn't wait to rub it in Ino's face, Sasuke wanted to intensify his training so he can impress everyone, and Naruto… well, he just wanted to celebrate by stuffing his face with ramen and then look to have some secret extra training.

----- A few weeks later: Chuunin exams day -----

Naruto woke up before the alarm clock woke him, he was very anxious. After taking a quick shower, he ran to his small kitchen and prepared some breakfast, which he promptly devoured. He went to his room and dressed in his usual attire. Just as he finished everything he had to get, he rushed out of his apartment.

"_**Naruto-kun, remember what we trained for and don't show them until the real tournament. They're a surprise, got it?"**_

\\ Yep, don't worry about that, Arashi-san. \\

Naruto grinned as he began to walk towards the Academy where the first part is going to be held, and there he would meet up with Sasuke and Sakura. As he entered the building, there were many people there meeting with their team, others were ready to go and look for the assigned room on the third floor. Looking for the only pink hair that could only mean one person was kinda hard even though it just ONE person, but eventually she appeared behind Sasuke.

"Hey, Sasuke, Sakura, over here!" he waved at both. "Let's get going, we don't wanna miss this!!!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Of course, dobe," he smirked and they all began to walk up the long flights of stairs. Upon standing on a floor, they looked to the top of the door and saw the correct number for the first test, but there was something off about it.

"Did you all notice we're just in the second floor?" Sasuke said to his teammates.

They nodded and saw as a girl with her hair in buns atop her head arguing with one of the Genin there, that only ended in someone from the crowd coming along the stairs telling that that was a Genjutsu and it was only the second floor, it sure wrecked their chances at passing.

Everyone that was inside the other room filled the stairs for the third floor, thank Kami that all Team 7 went on to the third floor and already met with Kakashi for the whole deal. As they looked around they saw other Rookies coming in and they waved at them.

"Hey, hey! You're all here too, huh," said Kiba as he walked over.

They began chattering until a guy with glasses and gray hair tied up in a ponytail approached them.

"Oi, you shouldn't make much sound, most ninja here are already tense for the exams and they really don't want any kind of disturbances."

"Who are you?" asked Ino.

"Oh, my name is Yakushi Kabuto, and just so you all know, I've been trying to pass the exams for 7 years but no such luck," he gave a rather fake looking smile, but nobody noticed.

"**Blegh! This boy, he reeks of snakes!!!" **Kyuubi growled in Naruto's mind.

"_**No doubt about it, Kyuubi-sama. Naruto-kun, you better be wary of this guy, he's not to be trusted."**_

Naruto took that into account, but kept focused on the cards he was taking out, even though they were blank, Kabuto said that with some chakra, he could make information on anybody in the room appear.

"Do you have any information on the Gaara guy?" asked Sasuke.

Kabuto took a blank card and the information slowly filled its face. "Well, it says his specialty is the sand he carries around which provides with an absolute defense. It also says that he has completed 17 D-rank, 18 C-rank, 28 B-rank and 12 A-rank missions and has come out of each and every one unharmed. There isn't much information from him; it seems that it's a hard-to-get kind of information."

After recollecting some information from other ninjas from the other groups of Genin there, a loud thrash of the doors alerted all ninja to look for the source, it being the infamous Ibiki from the ANBU Torture and Interrogations.

"Alright, you runts, I'm going to direct the first part of the Chuunin exams. This part is a written exam and will be inside this classroom, so all of you will get a number from this box here to arrange your seats. This will assure you won't be close to your teammates. MOVE!" he yelled as all Genin hurried to grab a number from the box and took their seats.

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were well apart, but so did every team's Genin. They all gave their full attention to the man and also took notice of all of the other ninja surrounding the classroom.

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A/N: So this was the start of the Chuunin exams, I hope this little start will be enough for today. Maybe tomorrow I can update again.

This time, I'm not going to put usual questions, cuz, maybe that was got me towards Writer's Block last time... so, review what you can, still. Oh, and from the Author's Note I had posted before, I would still like some ideas be presented, they help. I'd like to thank the anonymous reviewer 'd-u' who posted really good ideas there. And I might use two of them, I'm just brainstorming and seeing if it will all fit with my story, which it hopefully will, cause they're very good ideas.

Thanks again for reading!!

Oe-l nga-ti kam(ei)e. (I See you.) - Avatar

- BloodKitsune11


	14. Chapter 14

Whoo!! I said it didn't I! Haha, it took me so little to make this chapter, I LOVE it!!! XD I hope you will too! So, without disturbing your read, here it is!!!!

Disclaimer: **[Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Holidays everyone!!]**

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Ibiki stood in front and began to say all the instructions for the written test. "This test will take up to an hour and a half. This test consists of ten questions, nine of them are in the exam in front of you and after time is up, I'll give you the tenth question. If you noticed, there are ninja situated all around the room, they will be holding up the 10 point ranking. You'll start with ten points, if you're caught cheating, they will take away points until you have zero meaning that even if your teammate has all ten points, you and your team will be disqualified. AM I UNDERSTOOD?!" he said as his harsh stare reached the soul of every Genin in the room. "The test will start… NOW!"

All the Genin in the room turned their papers around and found impossible questions in each of them, even Sakura the bookworm was having problem with them. But Naruto stared down at the questions, yet he wasn't paying attention as he was talking to the entities inside him. They were telling him various strategies he could use to get the answers for him and his teammates.

After a few minutes of being face down on the table, he stared up front towards the blackboard, and the strategy he was told was started. He had shed a bloody tear while face down which he, with a little bit of chakra, dispersed into minuscule particles in the air. That particle could lodge itself in the eye of another person and retain visual memory, redirecting it with the little amount of chakra it has and gave him the answers of the questions. In minutes, he had written every answer sent by the blood particles, and then he used the left over particles in the air, directed them to Sasuke and Sakura, lodging them on their temples, their small amount of chakra directed towards their brains and created a temporary mind link between the three.

\\ Sasuke, Sakura, can you hear me? \\ Naruto talked through the link.

\\ Naruto, how did you do that? \\ asked Sakura.

\\ I was training with different things, Sakura. Now, I have the answers, want them? \\

\\ Sure, Naruto, I can't get over the genjutsu some of these guys have on. They may be some of these Chuunin disguised as Genin to give the answers. \\ Sasuke said.

\\ Ok, here… \\ Naruto began reading the answers to both of them.

In very few minutes, they had already written the answers and then the link broke. But, it didn't matter, since after they finished, Ibiki had quickly commanded everyone to stop writing.

"Ok, runts, pencils down, it's time for the tenth and final question. But first, I'd like to tell you all that those who decide to get the tenth question, have to answer correctly, if not, you'll fail and never become a Chuunin, ever! Right now, you have the time to decide whether or not to take the question. You may raise your arms and you and your team will be disqualified and have a chance to come back and take the test the next time."

Naruto looked around and saw as many teams began to raise their hands and being escorted out. He scoffed, he knew Ibiki's game he would trick them with his mind games to reduce the numbers of teams for the test.

After watching many teams walk out of the classroom, Ibiki finalized.

"So those are all?" he huffed, "There are still many left," he frowned. "Well, you, who have stayed, there is no tenth question. You pass the first part of the Exams."

A girl from a foreign village stood up, "No tenth question? Does that mean, it was just a trick for those who left?"

Ibiki chuckled, "Well, those who stayed, you all knew that you had to stay to advance, even if it meant placing you and your teammates in a risk of never advancing to Chuunin for life. It shows that you don't fear the unknown to get your mission done."

Ibiki, then, started to explain other things, when a big explosion went off and a large cloud of dust took over the room. After clearing up, a large wrecking ball stood at the corner and a very familiar woman with purple hair stood on it.

"Listen up, maggots, I am Mitarashi Anko, and I'll be your instructor for the second part of the Chunnin exams," she said as she stood from the ball, standing beside Ibiki.

"Anko, you're early again!!" Ibiki screamed.

Anko chuckled and looked around, "You're getting soft or something? There a lots of teams here." She gasped and a wide grin flashed on her face, "Ibiki, look, if it isn't the blonde brat!!! NARUTO-KUN, YOU MADE IT THIS FAR, HUH?!" she said, cupping her hands to amplify her voice.

Naruto was nearly blown by her voice's force but managed to stay. He looked at her and laughed half-heartedly. "Yeah, Anko-neechan…"

She grinned back again, and stood in front of the whole Genin teams, "Ok, all of you maggots will come by tomorrow by the Training Ground 44, otherwise known as the Forest of Death. I'll explain this part when all of you get there. So be ready, it's not gonna be a walk in the park," she gave a sadistic grin and dismissed the Genin.

Naruto and his teammates walked out of the building and unanimously went to eat to Ichiraku's.

"So, dobe, looks like you've been training alone or something," Sasuke looked at him as their plates were being served.

"Yup, I gotta get stronger to defend all of my precious people," Naruto said between slurps.

Sasuke 'hn'-ed, but not in annoyance and returned to eat. Sakura only stared at both boys before starting to eat her own food. The time spent in the ramen stand was silent, mostly staring at Naruto eat about a dozen bowls of ramen. After they paid for their food, they stood from there and were surprised as they stumbled upon Hinata, who was about to go inside the stand.

"Oh, g-gomen, I-I wasn't watching where I was g-going," Hinata bowed ashamed as her cheeks became a rosy shade of red.

"It's ok, Hinata-chan, accidents happen," Naruto said.

Hinata lifted her head, but couldn't look at Naruto in his eyes, she nodded. "A-arigato, N-Naruto-kun," she said in a small voice as she held her hands together and fiddled with her thumbs.

Naruto gave her his signature grin, "I'll see you later," he said and turned to walk with his teammates.

Hinata's cheeks blushed madly as she took deep breaths to steady her heart and turn into the stand.

Naruto and his teammates walked down the street in silence, glancing at how the foreign shinobi had already found places where to meet up or just hang out. It all seemed to be so peaceful, but what says that this isn't the calm before the storm?

Sasuke was the first to say 'good night' as he turned to the street towards the Uchiha compound, then Sakura quickly went after Sasuke, leaving Naruto alone in the middle of the street. He sighed, and turned towards another place not his apartment.

He quickly took off to the rooftops, deciding to glide instead of run. Finally, he crouched at the end of a building, taking as much impulse as he could and launched himself towards the Hokage Monument. Using his wings to land gently atop the Yondaime's head, he sat down and stared at the village, shining brightly with the lights from the streets as the sky darkened. He closed his eyes and smelled the fresh air from the surrounding forest, yet, a sudden smell of lavender crept up his nostrils and he jerked his head to his side. A true smile curled his lips, in front of him stood the only one to know of his secret location: Hinata.

Hinata blushed and slowly walked over to him and sat to his side.

"It's been a very long time since we met up here, Hinata-chan," Naruto said and wrapped a wing around her.

"Yeah, it has, Naruto-kun," she said without a stutter. She only stuttered when she was around people she didn't trust or know well.

"So, tomorrow's part of the Chunnin exams is in the Forest of Death. Are you ready for it?" he asked.

Hinata rested her head on his shoulder, causing Naruto to look at her from the corner of his eyes and his cheeks warmed up, taking a rosy color. "I think so, I mean, I have been there with you so, that shouldn't be a problem, but the other teams. I have a hunch that it will be a sort of retrieval test. I'm scared of Suna's team, the red head seems to leak so much hatred and killer intent," she said as she gripped Naruto's arm unconsciously.

Naruto completely swiveled his head towards her, his cheeks were burning up and turned a red color. He felt his heart beat faster and gulped down the knot on his throat. "I, uh, if I were you, um, I would stay away from that team as far as possible, Hinata-chan. He's… dangerous."

Hinata looked up to his face and noticed that she had been clinging onto his arm and quickly let go, blushing madly. "Um…" she placed her hand on her pounding chest to calm it down, "W-what do you m-mean dangerous?"

Naruto sighed, he finally stabilized his heartbeats, "He's too powerful, he doesn't have mercy and only seeks to kill, Hinata-chan. When you get a glimpse of him, immediately run away, don't even bother spy on him."

Hinata nodded and then stared down towards the lit village. "We shouldn't worry about this right now. We should be watching the view, enjoying what we have right now," she gave a small smile as her blind eyes glanced at the view.

Naruto smiled as he did just that. He inhaled the lavender infused air and closed his eyes.

--- Inside the Seal ---

"**Heheh, the kit's getting soft around her," **the Kyuubi chuckled.

"_**I never thought I'd live to see this happen,"**_ Arashi wore a proud smile.

Kyuubi stared at Arashi, the silence overcame the hollow cage. Suddenly, a bone shattering whack, a loud thud and splash was heard. Arashi groaned as he was supported by the same cage he got thrown at.

"**Learn not to be soft around me. You sound like a mother,"** Kyuubi said in annoyance.

--- Normal ---

A small bloody tear trickled down his cheek away from Hinata, and dropped onto the rock. The rock absorbed the tear and in a matter of seconds, a rose with the rich color of blood grew.

Naruto opened his eye and immediately looked down where the blood had dropped and saw the rose. He touched the soft petals of the rose and it seemed to have a coat of liquid. When he studied his fingers, it was the very blood it was made from.

Hinata noticed his distraction and leaned over to see what it was and saw the rose. "When did that rose appear?"

Naruto looked back at her, "I don't know, but maybe it's a sign of sorts. We should leave it there."

Hinata shrugged and stood up as she looked at her watch. "It's getting late, Otousama must be wondering where I am."

Naruto stood up with her too and looked into her eyes. "Want me to fly you home?"

"Fly? You're going to be weighted down, I mean, I trust you but won't your wings be forced to flap harder because of the extra weight?"

"No, I train my wings on resistance too," he smiled, "What do you say?"

Hinata smiled and took his awaiting hand. Naruto took her into his arms, bridal style, and gave a reassuring smile. "Here we go!" He grinned and took a running start as he jumped from the edge of the Yondaime's head, and spread his wings. Hinata yelled in excitement as she looked at the Village with a bird's eye view. The Hyuuga compound was a little far from the Monument so a few minutes flight was enough to get Hinata's hear racing with adrenaline.

Naruto smiled and looked down towards the Village, too, as he's trying to find the Hyuuga compound. Finally, he found the colossal building and glided down. Landing on top of the compound, he set Hinata down gently to her feet.

Hinata turned to Naruto and smiled, "Thank you, Naruto-kun," she fiddled with her thumbs again.

"No problem," he smiled nervously.

"Um…" Hinata looked down to the rooftop and blushed. "Good luck tomorrow, and, uh, good night."

Naruto smiled and took Hinata by surprise with his hug, along with his wings wrapped around them. "I swear I'll protect you forever, Hinata-chan."

Hinata returned the hug with as much strength as she could conjure. "Naruto-kun… there's something I've been dying to say since we met."

Naruto kept her embraced in his hug and leaned his ear close to her. "What is it?" His heart began racing again, the tone which she said that sentence made him nervous and his cheeks blush.

"Naruto-kun… I… I…" she took a deep breath, "I love you!" she said and her legs gave out under her and felt as Naruto held her up.

Naruto's mind went blank and his eyes widened, but instinctively held her as he felt her falling. "Hinata," he whispered to her ear. "You're also the one who makes my heart race and makes me feel nervous…"

Hinata's eyes widened, tears threatening run down her cheeks.

"I love you too, Hinata-chan," Naruto said and faced her, looking into her emotion filled eyes. He closed the distance between their lips, his wings wrapping around them once again, as if to unite them.

Their lips parted and they stared into their eyes. "I wish this would last forever," Hinata whispered.

"One day, Hinata-chan, it will," Naruto responded.

Suddenly, some footsteps were heard climbing towards the rooftop.

"I have to go, Hinata-chan, I'll see you tomorrow, ok?"

Hinata nodded and held her hands to her chest as Naruto quickly flew away, leaving a black feather behind.

"Hinata-sama, what are you doing on the roof?" Neji appeared beside her," You're supposed to be resting for tomorrow." Hinata fainted right on the spot.

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A/N: AAAHH!!!! KAWAII!!!!!! I love how I made this chapter end, I love Naru/Hina and it seemed to be the right moment! *cries of joy* I noticed I got too excited writing this cuz I wrote a lot more... my chapters are usually 4 pages in Word, but this one almost had 5!!! I'm proud of myself =] So, I'm still working on the next chapter, I just need to write some more and voila! I'm inspired this Holidays, I can't believe it! Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter as much as I did and I hope you can wait a little more for the next chapter cause I got a feeling it may be a little late... or not. I like to keep at least two chapters in reserve for when I have Writer's block, I have something to give to my readers, which is what happened last time and I didn't have anything written.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!

-BloodKitsune11


	15. Chapter 15

WOO! Haha, this is weird, ain't it? 2010? Well, I have been stalling this chapter even though I had this done for a few days, but there were somethings bothering me in this one and was constantly fixing little details. So, after all that, I am satisfied. I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: **[Happy New Years!!! It's 2010 I hope this new year and decade will bring more happiness! :3**

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Naruto woke up earlier than planned as he looked out the still dark sky. Sighing, he went towards the bathroom and made his daily routine. He, then, walked to the kitchen and made breakfast.

'_Maybe I can go take an early scan over the Forest of Death and get a clear view of what will be the best places to take refuge.'_

He ate his ramen quickly and dressed, and then he took off from his apartment towards the known Forest. Standing in front of the tall trees and the deserted place, he began to trudge inside and took to the tree branches. As he got deeper into the Forest, he made sure his mental map of the place was complete and then disappeared from the area in the still silence of the forest.

He appeared on top of the Yondaime's head, once again, and took his seat next to the bloody rose. He stared at it, trying to figure out if it's only a simple rose or maybe it could do more than just stand and look pretty.

"**Kit, I thought you could've already figured out that the rose there can be used as medicine. Like an external antibiotic for cuts and wounds, those sorts of stuff."**

\\ I guess I can just take the rose and make a small jar of antibiotic? \\

"**You're slow, but yes, you can."**

Naruto looked at the rose and took a kunai out, cutting it from the roots slowly. He looked at the roots, and instead of having an earthy feel, they looked more like blood drenched veins. Standing up from there, he saw as the sky had already cleared up, looking like almost 6am.

Realization hit him, "Holy shit! How long was I in the Forest of Death?!! I only have a few minutes to get there!!!" He made quick hand seals and shunshined into his house, taking one of his dead plants out and placing the rose there. He gave it some water and quickly jumped out from his apartment's window and took to the rooftops.

In a few minutes, he got there, glad he wasn't exactly late. He landed beside Sasuke and Sakura, and began panting. "Hah, hey, sorry I took my time."

"Naruto!" Sakura growled, and then scoffed, "At least it wasn't time yet."

Naruto straightened and looked around; all of the teams were looking at each other, forming a tense atmosphere.

"ALRIGHT, KIDDIES, LISTEN UP!!!" Anko yelled, getting everyone's attention. "This second part of the Chuunin exams is here. You'll be in the forest for a maximum of four days, more than that or you'll be disqualified. The objective is to pair up these two scrolls," she showed two scrolls, one marked as 'Heaven' and the other as 'Earth', "Each team will have only one and has to look for another team with the other scroll. Once you have both scrolls, make your way towards the tower in the middle. Oh, a little warning, don't open the scrolls before getting to the tower, you don't wanna know what happens," she gave an evil smile. "Ok, now, you," she pointed at some random shinobi, "pass out this forms. They will ensure that I'm not responsible for anybody's death, injuries and whatnot."

"This will be a piece of cake," said Naruto quietly, suddenly feeling a small cut on his cheek.

Anko appeared by his side, "Naruto-kun, as much as I love my little bundle of joy, never underestimate the dangers in the Forest, I may have a little something saved just for you," she said and licked the cut.

Naruto shivered, he didn't like the tone Anko had used with him and especially when she had something special for him, it brought many memories. "H-hai, Anko-neechan."

"Excuse me, you dropped this," said a creepy woman with her long tongue wrapped around Anko's kunai.

"Thanks," Anko took the kunai, staring at the woman from Otogakure.

Naruto stared at her too, but failed miserably to keep Kyuubi shut.

"**This woman, I gotta rip her apart, shred her to pieces, or burn her until she's nothing!!!!"**

"_**Kyuubi-sama, I understand that she's unusual, but what's wrong with her?"**_

\\ Yeah, what he said. \\

"**This woman smells exactly like that stupid ass Hebi-teme! He and that disgraceful Uchiha Madara were the ones who made me attack my own territory!!! AAAGGH! LET ME KILL HER!!!"**

"_**Kyuubi-sama, control yourself!!! Naruto-kun is in a place where he could hurt other people, especially his teammates!"**_

Kyuubi kept his roaring, while Arashi made what he could to try and calm him down, knowing that his anger affected Naruto. Naruto, on the other hand, was trying his best not to fall under the influence of the Kyuubi's anger, but the pressure was beginning to get to him each time getting stronger. His breathing was getting harsher.

Sakura and Sasuke were the only ones who were hearing him, and turned to stare at him.

"Naruto, are you ok?" Sakura said, slowly reaching her hand and placed it on his shoulder, which caused him to look, and Sakura quickly retracted her hand from him.

Naruto looked up at both, as he clenched his chest, with one eye that looked like the fox's, contrasting with the other that was still as blue as the shining sky.

Sasuke quickly moved towards him and gripped his shoulders, "Naruto, look at me," he said making Naruto stare at Sasuke's, "Breathe slowly and deeply, come on."

It wasn't long till Arashi had managed to calm Kyuubi down, and Sasuke calmed Naruto down. His unusual red eye slowly took the cerulean hue and his pupil became round, and his breathing became normal.

Sasuke let go and Naruto looked up again, "Thanks, Sasuke." \\ Thanks, Arashi-san. \\

"No problem, we had already filled out our forms and got our scroll, we were waiting for you, but, I guess, it's ok, now," Sasuke said.

Naruto straightened and nodded. "Let's go."

Sakura looked at Naruto, her concern was very visible, "Are you sure, Naruto?"

He looked at her and smiled, "Yeah, I'm good now," he gave a small chuckle.

Both teammates let out a breath they didn't know were holding and began to walk towards the other groups in front of the Forest.

"Now that we're all here," Anko said looking at every team. "You can start…" the teams readied themselves on their appointed places to start, "NOW!!" All the teams disappeared quickly into the forest, and Anko smirked. _'Naruto-kun, I know that you came here earlier, I wonder what for.'_

Naruto sneezed and looked everywhere, and then shrugged. "So, what scroll did we get?"

Sasuke took it out, "It's a Heaven scroll, and we need the Earth one."

"I should make some of my clones so we can get a perimeter around us at all times," Naruto said and made this simple cross seal, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" a cloud of smoke took the place they were standing and when it cleared, six Naruto clones stood. "Alright, you guys make a perimeter around us, make sure to have some distance from us and be on the lookout for other teams." The clones all replied with "Hai" and dispersed.

"Hey, Naruto, what happened earlier? Your eye was different and scary," Sakura said.

Naruto stared at her and felt Sasuke staring too. "I'm sorry, I can't tell you."

"What do you mean you can't tell us? It might be something life threatening and you can't tell us?!" Sakura shook Naruto.

"Sakura, maybe not now, but maybe in time, he'll tell us. When he trusts us more," Sasuke said.

Sakura stared at Sasuke and frowned.

"Let's hurry up, we should be looking for a strategic place where we can intersect other teams and possibly get the Earth scroll."

They all nodded and began the search for other teams. Jumping from tree to tree, the team made their way quietly through the forest but with no luck. Suddenly, Naruto's mind regained a few memories and he stopped.

"Somebody broke through our perimeter. Be on guard," he said and they all went back to back and watched from all ways.

Suddenly a kunai flew between them, separating them from their formation. They fell from the trees and landed on the uneven ground. Footsteps sounded from between a few trees and the same woman that had caught Anko's kunai appeared, her unusually long tongue licking her lips.

"Ah, I finally caught up to you," she chuckled and eyed hungrily at one boy in particular, "Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke's eyes widened and he stood up, so did Sakura who had coincidentally landed beside him, while Naruto landed across from them. "What do you want from us? Is it the scroll?" he questioned.

The woman kept her hungry gaze at Sasuke. "No, it's not the scroll I want, Sasuke-kun," she chuckled again as she began to close the distance from Sasuke.

Sasuke growled, "If you don't want the scroll, then leave," he said but the woman didn't reply, "So, then I'll make you leave." He charged at her to engage in a taijutsu match.

"Kukuku, you move so quickly, Sasuke-kun… Good," she marveled, "But not quick enough," she disappeared and sent a kick to the side of Sasuke's head, which he barely dodged.

Naruto stared as he struggled to stand up. "Sasuke! She's too strong, what are you doing?!!" he yelled and ran towards the fight only to be attacked by a huge snake, which sent him flying away from their view.

"I won't let anybody interrupt this, kukuku," she said as she stared toward the snake's trail and returned to the boy in front of her.

----

Naruto turned towards the huge snake and let out an animalistic growl.

"**I knew it! Either that bitch is one of that Hebi's minions or that's the teme in disguise! Kill the snake thing first and then get rid of that trash!" **Kyuubi ranted.

Naruto flipped backwards as the snake lunged to where he was, and then it's cold eyes stared him. Naruto charged with kunai in hand, launching himself up to the snakes head. The snake hissed and turned towards Naruto, opening its mouth to try and eat him. Naruto, seeing its intentions, threw the kunai and watched as it embedded itself on the snake's eye and it writhed in pain. Landing on the ground, he saw the snake had taken off the kunai, but was blind on that side.

"You'll never get me now, huh!!" he yelled at the snake.

It hissed in annoyance and with the other eye, stared down at him. It used its tail and hit Naruto, sending him flying upward, then opened its mouth again, hoping to actually eat it.

"Holy!!!" Naruto yelled as the snake closed its mouth around him and gulped him down. Taking a kunai from his pouch he started to cut at the insides of the snake, but making no progress as its insides were quickly re-grown. "Looks like I'll have to make you explode from the inside," he chuckled. "Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!!!" he yelled, a huge amount of clones puffed into existence, making the snake's belly to swell and finally explode as the amount was too much to handle.

"Hah, gross," he shook his hands as the goo from the inside of the snake covered him, but he didn't have time to waste, "I have to do the saving now, huh?" He started to run towards the fight again, but was faced with a not-so-pretty view. Sakura seemed to be still and in shock, while Sasuke kept fighting against the woman, who now had a burnt face. Somehow, Sasuke seemed to be in a worse state, despite having no visible injuries except a fresh cut on his thigh.

"Hey!!!" Naruto yelled and began to run towards them.

The woman grimaced, "I thought my snake would've killed you by now. It seems I have to do this quickly." She flipped back, somehow, a piece of her burnt skin seemed to peel away, revealing a pale white skin with purple markings around the eye, the eye that looked like one of a snake from its reptilian gold color.

"Who are you? What's your real face?!" Sasuke yelled.

"My, my, looks like I'll have to take care of things faster, kukuku," she, no, _he_ peeled off the skin from his face, and looked even creepier. He licked his lips and looked hungrily at Sasuke, again.

Sasuke growled and began his charge again, but he was stopped by a long snake that wrapped around his body, threatening to suffocate him.

"This is a very special gift from me to you, Sasuke-kun. You'll know what to do in time," his neck elongated and dug his fangs on Sasuke's shoulder. "Farewell, Sasuke-kun." He retreated as he disappeared in the blink of an eye, letting Sasuke to fall to the ground and Sakura finally could move again.

"Sasuke!!!" Naruto and Sakura yelled as both ran to his pained being. Sasuke gripped his shoulder as a wave of pain brought him to unconsciousness. They held Sasuke up and glanced at the purple glowing tomoes that appeared right on the place the Hebi had bitten him.

* * *

A/N: W00t! Haha, yep, this is it. Sasuke has the Curse Mark already and I have something planned for that. Like (I think) I said in a previous chapter, I'll be making something for this. *evil grin*

OH! I have something I want you guys to do! Um, I'm having a hard time writing chapter 16 because it's Team Dosu's part and I have no idea what to do there... seriously, I've read other fanfics and went to the Narutopedia (lol) to check what they did, but I want to do something different and nothing comes to mind. PLEASE HELP ME GET OVER THIS OBSTACLE!!!! Dx

HAPPY 2010!

_¡¡¡Uuuffff!!! ¡¡¡Las Navidades no han terminado aqui en Puerto Rico, faltan los Tres Reyes Magos, las octavas y octavitas!!!_

- BloodKitsune11


	16. Chapter 16

**EDIT:** I know that I uploaded this chapter yesterday, right? Well, just so you all know, school was ok, I didn't get to sleep on class, but I did get to text unnoticed. Anyway, this edit is for the typo that was pointed out and a few edit of lines. I hope that you keep suggestions up, because I welcome any so I can deliver a good read for everyone who's reading. Until next update!!

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Hello, I know, I know. I'm late again, aren't I? I'm sorry!!!! I was forcing myself to write this because I had no inspiration whatsoever. I have to hurry and upload this cuz I'm not even supposed to be in the internet right now! So, yeah. Here's chapter 16! Hope you like my hard work (by writing this that is).

**A special thanks (very special indeed) to PromistDream who gave a really good idea and that kept me writing this chapter until I felt satisfied. THANK YOUU!!!!!!! XD **

Disclaimer: **[I hope I don't get caught now!!]**

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Sakura sat quietly at the mouth of the cavern, keeping watch for her resting teammates. After Sasuke passed out, Naruto quickly transported them to a cavern for safety. _'How did he know this was here?'_ she looked to up, seeing only a few rays of light fall through the deep foliage.

She yawned and leaned against the nearby log and lowered her guard. Suddenly, she heard a few twigs snap here and there, and her droopy eyes glanced to the trees around her when she heard a something fly towards her. Ducking at last minute, she looked back to see a kunai embedded exactly where her head was. She looked across from her and saw the team from Oto.

"Naruto!!!" she yelled as she went running towards the entrance, but was intercepted by the blonde himself.

"Sakura stay back!" Naruto said as he stepped in front of her, focusing on the team.

One of the members from said team chuckled. One of the males wore a large furry poncho, a snake patterned scarf, on his right arm was a strange attachment, and his face covered in bandages except his left eye. The other male wore a simple elbow-long shirt that had kanji embedded in red, and the same snake patterned scarf. And, the kunoichi in their team seemed to accompany the fashion of the scarf, but she wore a sort of jacket. The trio wore their hitai-ate on their foreheads.

"Pipsqueak, give us the Uchiha!" yelled the boy with the dark hair.

"No way, he's in no condition to fight!" Sakura yelled.

The kunoichi from Oto smirked, "It will be a lot easier than Orochimaru-sama pointed out, then."

Sakura widened her eyes and quickly ran inside to Sasuke's side. Naruto narrowed his eyes and crouched on a battle stance.

"You'll have to get through me first before getting Sasuke!!" he yelled and charged towards the team.

"So, he thinks he'll take on all of us, Dosu! Let's go, Kin!" the other boy said eager to fight as he charged first along with the girl.

"Right behind you, Zaku," she smirked.

The strange guy, Dosu, sighed impatiently and charged as well, behind his teammates. The only thing that gave him a motive to fight this reckless blonde was to complete the mission his master gave them.

Naruto made his famous hand seal and called forth his jutsu. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Four clones appeared by his side, two clones against Zaku and the others with Dosu. Naruto began with Kin as she began a barrage of senbon instead of kunai or shuriken, which confused him a bit. Taking out a kunai, he deflected most of the senbon while he dodged the other. Closing in on her, he threw a punch at her, which she blocked with her forearm and delivered a kick to his chin. Naruto flew backwards, but managed to flip to his feet and ran towards her and began a set of kicks. One landed on the side of her head and sent her towards a tree with unbelievable speed. Crashing onto the tree, her head was struck with an uneven surface of the trunk and left her unconscious.

Satisfied with knocking out the girl first, his rapid healing curing the small scratches and piercings the stray senbon made, he turned to Zaku, who managed to defeat his clones. Zaku smirked at the blonde and charged at him, too. Both threw a punch and deflected it at the same time. Holding each others' punches, Zaku smirked at Naruto.

"Decapitating Air Wave!" Zaku exclaimed as a strong force exited his hands and pushed Naruto off.

Naruto grunted as he fell to the ground, and looked at the boy. _'What the hell!!!'_

Zaku smirked. Naruto growled, he stood up and charged again at him. He threw kicks and punches here and there, but the guy seemed to block them all. Zaku finally took Naruto by surprise and gave him a knee to the stomach. Naruto spat as he fell to his knees, and Zaku laughed.

"Is that all, blondie!" he said, but he widened his eyes when he say him disappear in a puff of smoke. He growled and turned around only to find the blonde's foot square on his face. Zaku yelled as he held his bleeding nose. "You stupid... GAH!" he yelled and began to throw random punches.

Naruto smirked, finally he had the advantage. He crouched and delivered a swipe kick, which made Zaku trip and fall forward where a fist awaited his pained face. Hitting again on the broken nose, the Oto nin fell a few feet away from Naruto, and tended to his broken nose as he stood up, anger clearly plastered on his face.

Naruto was about to continue the beating when he heard a very familiar scream coming from the nearby cavern. He saw the hunched guy running quickly towards Sakura, he had his mechanical fist ready to attack. Naruto saw the odds of him running there, he wouldn't get there on time to block the Oto nin's attack. Groaning in frustration, knowing he wanted to keep them a secret longer, he spread his wings and flew as quickly as he could towards his teammate.

Sakura's eyes widened as she saw that the one they called 'dead last' had those. Most children knew the stories of the fallen angels because either the Hokage had told them when they were in the Academy for the sake of tradition or some parents passed the story on to their children. She was taken aback by the dark feathers of his wings, knowing very well the meaning of their color.

Dosu stopped in front of the girl as he saw her expression and heard the whoosh of wings flapping. Turning around, his visible eye widened as he noticed the black wings extended from under the blonde brat's coat.

Naruto landed in a crouch in front of Sakura, his wings extended defensively, as he gathered chakra on his leg to kick the creepy Oto nin back to his bleeding partner.

Sakura opened her mouth to talk, but was cut off as Naruto stood up. "Not now, Sakura," he said and sped off towards the enemy. He began blocking and dodging as he saw them take the offensive, he had to protect his teammates. That is enough reason to fight. He growled as he took a kick to his thigh and another to his shin, it took enough energy to keep his legs from collapsing under the pain from the chakra enhanced kicks. Suddenly, from the back of his mind, something was feeling out of place, something around him, he wasn't sure.

"**Kit, there's a disturbance coming from your Uchiha teammate."**

\\ What do you mean, Kyuubi? \\

"**Chakra, kit, chakra. He's gathering immense amounts of chakra."**

Naruto's eyes widened and saw from the corner of his eye a purple glowing, yet unconscious Sasuke. This cost him his concentration as he was quickly pinned to the ground by Zaku, who took two kunais and drove them through his wings. Yelling as he felt the metal pierce the wings' muscle, he heard as Sakura began to run towards him.

Sakura was with kunai in hand, the need to save Naruto and Sasuke drove through her exhaustion. She was stopped on her way by Dosu, she growled and tried to fend him off with a couple of slashed with her kunai, though her long hair proved to be a nuisance as Dosu quickly caught her by it.

"There's no way you'll cut your perfectly pampered hair just to save your friend, huh, pinky?" Dosu said in a mocking tone.

Sakura looked into his only eyes and lifted the hand with the kunai to her hair and cut off the part that was held by the Oto nin. Landing in a crouch, she ran under Dosu's arms and towards Zaku, but stopped quickly.

"Stop there, pinky, or you'll see bird boy here die!" Zaku said as he held a kunai to Naruto's throat.

Sakura stared into the hurt eyes of her blonde teammate, her own showed disappointment to herself as Dosu grabbed her arm. That's when she saw Naruto's eyes widen and both enemies look towards the cavern. A large amount of chakra was felt through the clearing, it was enough to make Sakura fall to her knees, her eyes widening in shock.

Dosu and Zaku looked over to the cavern and saw purple chakra engulfing the Uchiha boy. They stared into the eyes of him, only to see red Sharingan eyes flaring in hatred. Sasuke dashed towards them and landed various chakra enhanced blows on Zaku as he tried to block without success.

"You'll know better than to hurt my teammates. I'll rip off these precious arms of yours!!" he barked as he took both arms of Zaku and pulled at them until they popped out of their sockets.

Dosu eyes widened when Zaku's scream reached his ears, it'd be better to flee if he were to risk his own arm being ripped. Letting Sakura go, he took Zaku's pained being onto his shoulder and quickly dashed to Kin and took her away, bridal style.

Sakura quickly took the time she was free and began to carefully take off the kunai from Naruto's wings as tears flowed freely down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry, Naruto, I really am. I couldn't do anything!" she said as she began to take the second kunai from the other wing.

Naruto looked at her hurt expression, "It's alright, Sakura. We're all safe, but look," he said and held up a scroll on his hand, "I got their scroll," he gave a weak chuckle.

Sakura gave a small smile, "Oh, Naruto, don't joke at a time like this!" she said as she cleaned her face.

He stood up slowly and saw as Sasuke mumbled something under his breath and growled.

"You cowards are going to die under my hand!!" he yelled as he was about to run behind them, but something held his shoulder. Looking in front of him, he saw Naruto.

"Sasuke, calm down! We're all safe now, no one was hurt!" Naruto tried to tell him slowly.

Sasuke's face told he was still angry, but the purple chakra was slowly dissipating, his Sharingan disappeared, too. He fell to his knees and quickly gripped the Curse Mark on his shoulder.

"Sasuke-kun!!" Sakura screamed as she went to aid Sasuke and pulled his free arm over her shoulders.

"We should rest a bit, Sakura," Naruto said as he took Sasuke's other arm and both took their raven haired teammate to the cavern.

After being placed back on top of a bed of leaves, Sasuke looked towards both. "What happened while I was out?"

Naruto looked at him, "Well, not much really. I managed to find this cavern. After that, well, these guys came and attacked us. You've only been out a few hours, so don't worry."

Sasuke looked into his eyes, they told the truth, and so he lowered his gaze. "Are your wings ok?" he asked in a low voice, his eyes facing the ground.

Naruto tensed, he knew Sakura wanted to ask about them. "Well, they are kinda hurt, but with my fast healing, they should be better in no time," he said and went to take off his coat to free his wings and try to clean the wounded areas.

Sakura stared long at the wings. She walked over to Naruto and examined them. "Naruto, when… I mean… how?" she said, trying to form words.

Naruto looked at her. "They grew a few years ago. I asked Jiji about them and he said that maybe one of my parents had the wings. I know you know the story, Sakura."

Sakura nodded slowly and kept her eyes on the wings. She reached out to touch it and felt the soft black feathers. Naruto stared at her. She seemed to be entranced by them so he flapped them, even though it hurt to do so. She was startled and caught on the message. She stood up and sat near the campfire.

"I'm going out for a few minutes. I'll bring some fruits I saw earlier," Naruto said as he put on his coat and left the cavern. Making sure he was well out of range of any team, he climbed up on a tree and took off his coat once again and spread the wings towards him. Closing his eyes, he concentrated chakra on them, and opened them again. They had a dark red tone and quickly a bloody tear ran down a cheek. With his hand, he wiped that tear and rubbed it to the already closing wound that the kunai left. Although it stung a bit, he did so to both wings and in a matter of three minutes tops, they were healed and covered with new black feathers. Happy with the result, he placed on the coat and jumped from the branch he had been perched on. Looking in a direction, he flew towards a few smaller trees that were hidden behind some thicker and taller trees. One bore raspberries while the other had blueberries. Even though it wasn't much, he gathered as much as he could from them, storing them in a bag he had pulled out from his kunai pouch at his hip, and quickly flew back to camp.

Sakura was startled as she heard a thud at the entrance, but saw it was Naruto and he seemed to be carrying a bag filled with berries. "Those are lots of berries, Naruto."

Naruto grinned, and sat by the campfire, where Sasuke and Sakura were. "Here, there's enough for the three of us."

Sasuke took the offered bag and took some berries onto both hands and passed the bag to Sakura. She took some, too and placed the bag on Naruto's side. "Thank you, Naruto," Sakura said with a smile.

Naruto smiled back, "No problem. I should be resting, we gotta move tomorrow morning quickly if we want to make it safely to the tower."

Sasuke grunted as response and went outside to keep watch. After all, he was the only rested one of the three.

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A/N: So! How did you like it?! I know I gotta work out in fighting scenes, cuz I really suck at them D= Anyway, this'll be quick, like I said, I'm not supposed to be on the internet right now or I'll get grounded (haha, I'm horrible!!). So, the writing will slow down in the next updates cause school starts tomorrow and let's just say I'm really not so excited because damn I love sleeping til 2pm!!!! Oh, well...

Thanks again to PromistDream!!! Your idea motivated me, and I am thinking about that omake... it will certainly will be in a short chapter (I think will be the next one or the other one) to make up for lateness and for crappy fighting scenes from the Chuunin preliminaries.

Hope you all enjoyed, so have a good night/day!!! Until next time!

- BloodKitsune11


	17. Chapter 17

YO! This chapter is very very late, I know. School is a mess, it has been only two weeks and we were bombarded with homework. But do not fret, this chapter is kinda long and I like it. I hope you too! =3

Disclaimer: **[School is pretty much effin everyone up...]**

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Morning came, the campfire in the middle of the cavern was covered in fresh ashes yet it left the warm feeling of the flame that once burned and at the entrance stood the three members of Team 7.

"We should be getting back to the tower now, that way we can be sure to go to the third part of the Exams," Naruto said as he stretched his arms and breathed in the fresh air after a rainfall.

Sasuke and Sakura nodded and they all took to the trees, leaping as silently as possible. Even so, everyone was alert to any sound around them to be on the lookout for other enemy teams. In a few minutes of traveling, they saw the tower and jumped down from the trees. Walking up towards it, they saw a passage written on the far wall of the room.

"_Heaven symbolized spiritual power and Earth symbolizes physical power. When you have Heaven seek Earth, or if you have Earth seek Heaven,_" Sakura read aloud.

"So, it would mean like if you are strong in something, strengthen where you are weak," Naruto said. "We should take out the scrolls then, isn't it what we're supposed to do with them?"

Sakura nodded and looked at the boys. They took the scrolls, and opened and placed them in a crossed manner in front them. Concentrating a little bit of chakra in the middle of the scrolls, a small seal appeared and a cloud of smoke took the area. As the smoke dissipated, they saw Kakashi appear in front of them.

"Congratulations Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura. I see you managed to pass the Forest of Death in time and you all seem well," he said and eye smiled, "You should probably stay inside while the rest of the two days left pass." Kakashi stared at his team, he was very proud of them, though he was informed of Orochimaru's interference in the Forest, hopefully his team wasn't the one that was attacked. Just as he was about to go off, he noticed his team had something hidden from him. "Is there something wrong? You're usually not so silent."

Naruto opened his mouth to talk, but Sasuke began glaring daggers at him, and Naruto growled back in frustration.

"There's nothing wrong, Kakashi-sensei," Sasuke said as he kept his glare. But that didn't stop the reaction of the Curse Mark on his shoulder. It began to glow as he gripped his shoulder.

Kakashi looked at Sasuke knowing immediately what was going on. "Sasuke, you should come with me. You two, go inside quickly," he said his voice serious and he disappeared with Sasuke in a shunshin.

Sakura looked at Naruto, her eyes told she was worried. But she didn't speak so they went inside the tower. A Chuunin saw them come in and quickly greeted them.

"Congratulations on passing the second part of the exams. I'll escort you to your rooms," he said and walked them towards a hall filled with many doors. "On my left are the boys' rooms and on the right are the girls. This one here's yours and you other teammate when he comes back and you will go in the room in front of them," he pointed out and walked away to his post.

Naruto waited until Sakura entered her room and he went inside his. The room obviously held two people, so this room would be left alone and probably no one would try and get in. He made a few hand seals and shunshined out of the room.

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Kakashi was done writing seals all around Sasuke. He saw the boy that stood in the middle, he knew that him being the last Uchiha in the village would prove to be troublesome, but he didn't quite expect have him being marked by the Hebi Sannin, probably for his experiments and to gain the Sharingan. He walked up to the middle of the seals where Sasuke is.

"Don't worry, this isn't going to hurt," he gave an eye smile.

Sasuke huffed but sat still as Kakashi began to make hand seals. On the corner of his eyes, he saw as Naruto appeared, he knew he would. He clapped his hand on Sasuke's shoulder and the seals began to retreat onto the Curse Mark. The pained groans and grunts filled the silent room as the last bit of the seals disappeared onto Sasuke's shoulder. Finally after the seals settled, Kakashi took his hand from his shoulder and saw as Sasuke glared at him before he fell unconscious.

Naruto ran over to Sasuke and crouched down. Picking him up, he looked at Kakashi. "So, Kakashi-sensei, what were all those seals drawn on the floor?"

Kakashi eye smiled at his student, he knew that even though they really didn't show much, they cared for everyone, but this Curse Mark may take away what little sane part the Uchiha had. "The seals that were drawn on the floor were mainly to lock away the evil chakra that the Curse Mark emanated, and to avoid it driving Sasuke insane."

The blonde nodded and hefted him carefully on his back. "I guess I'll be going now. Are you sure the seal is stable?" he glanced at Kakashi's retreating form.

The grey haired man turned his head back and looked with his lone eye and sighed. "I can only say that his decision to not use the Curse Mark is the most important thing, if he decides against it, he's going to reactivate the mark."

Naruto looked down at the floor for he knew that what Sasuke wanted more than his current precious people is the power to kill his brother for betraying and killing the entire clan. After a very brief moment, he nodded and made some one handed seals and shunshined out of there, leaving Kakashi alone.

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Puffing into existence, Naruto stood in his room at the tower in the center of the Forest of Death. Looking at the two beds there, he placed Sasuke's still unconscious body on one and sat on the other bed. He took a deep breath and buried his face in his hands. _'What am I supposed to do now? He's obviously going to be craving the power that wretched Curse Mark is going to offer, but how can I stop him? How can I keep him in Konoha where he has his friends and everybody that cares for him?' _He clenched his teeth and let his hands fall to his sides.

"Naruto?!" Sakura's voice came as she knocked on their door. "Come on, open up!!!" she began pounding on it harder.

Groaning, he stood up and opened the door to see what she wanted. "What is it with the pounding? We're trying to sleep," he said.

Sakura raised an eyebrow, "We're…? Is Sasuke-kun there? Is he ok? What did Kakashi-sensei do to him?" she shook Naruto by his shoulders. You could see a few of the smaller feathers float down to the floor from his back.

"Sakura, please!" he almost screamed to make her stop shaking him. "He's fine, he's just unconscious."

Her eyes widened, "UNCONSCIOUS!!!?? What did he do to him?!!!" she screamed.

Naruto covered his ears and stared at Sakura, "STOP THE FUCKING SCREAMING SAKURA!!!" he glared. "There are people here that are resting for whatever is coming two days later and we should be resting too. I'm sure Kakashi-sensei will explain later."

Sakura groaned and lowered her head. "Ok, Naruto… I guess you're right, but, please why can't you tell me?" she pleaded.

~Sigh~ "I'm sorry, Sakura, but it's for Kakashi to tell you, maybe you'd understand better," he turned to his door, "Besides, as long as he doesn't do what the Curse Mark orders him, he'll be fine, so, go to your room and rest a little." He finished with a small smile at her and turned to close and lock the door behind him. Silence overwhelmed the place now, he could hear every creak that the old tower made as people walked, and hear faint footsteps all through the floor from other inhabitants there. He sat down on the solitary bed and stared out the lone window. There was nothing but the view of the dense foliage and the huge trees the forest had. Slowly he began to take off his coat off and placed it on to the side of the bed. Looking down to his chest, he saw the necklace that he was given on his fifth birthday by the Hokage and had all the charms he was given on his birthdays, including the Gama he had given him.

Finally, his eyes began to feel heavy as he laid facedown and the faint clinking of the charms with every movement he made was making him feel drowsy. Closing his eyes, he began to drift into his mind.

The dimly lit walls of the sewer-like place were all around him, in front of him, the huge golden cage with a seal.

"**Kit," **said the giant furry form of the Kyuubi, **"The Uchiha you call your 'brother' is going to make the worst decision. You do know that, but you are denying it."**

"I know, Kyuubi-sama, but if he does make that decision, I'll make sure he doesn't go anywhere. And if he wants to fight me to get to that Hebi-teme, I'll stop him and bring him back to Konoha even if I have to break all his limbs."

"**You do what you have to do, just make sure he doesn't follow that bastard. If he does, who knows what horrible experiment or how much hatred will he feed the boy."**

"Yeah, I will, Kyuubi-sama… hey, where's Arashi-san? He usually joins in the conversation."

"**That one? Haha, you'd be amazed, but you still can't know his real name or how he looks like. Anyway, this lazy ningen is sleeping… surprisingly."**

Naruto looked curious at the dark cage with the giant silhouette, but shrugged it off. He didn't want to be handled by a human form Kyuubi and his sharp claws that dug into his skin. "I'm gonna sleep now, then. Later!" he disappeared from the mindscape, but he still heard the Kyuubi's annoyed sigh and muttered something about 'being stuck with two guys that act the same.'

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The surrounding forest noises and birds chirping broke through the silence, waking up a rather groggy blonde. He stood up and stretched, then walked silently to the private bathrooms that each room held. Cleaning himself up, he wet his hair a bit, and let it to dry itself. There was a knock on the door, but it stopped quickly and a female voice called telling that breakfast was ready. His stomach growled at the mention of food, but he had to wait for Sasuke to wake up. So he decided to walk over to the window that sat beside his bed, and looked over towards the forest. It was just then that his eyes came to life as he saw a particular team walk up to the tower with a day to spare.

"Hinata-chan…" he whispered, but straightened up just as quickly when he felt movement from Sasuke. Looking back, the raven was sitting up on his bed, massaging his forehead gently.

"Niisan… where are we?" he spoke in a soft voice, it almost seemed unfitting for a character like him.

Naruto looked on with sympathetic eyes and gave a small smile. "We're in the tower of the Forest of Death."

Sasuke looked around rather disoriented, but Naruto walked over and helped him up. "Thanks… Do you know if there's anything to eat yet?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah, a lady was walking by the halls saying that breakfast was ready," he replied as he saw Sasuke could already stand on his own.

Stretching his arms and legs, he looked at his teammate looking at him, "So, are going to eat?"

Naruto shrugged, "Not yet, there's something I have to do first."

Sasuke's curiosity rose, but decided not to pry into matters not his own… for now and decided to leave him to his own personal things and go eat some breakfast.

He watched as he was left alone, thinking that probably he would've asked why he wanted to be alone, but he knew Sasuke was not one to try and dig up too personal things from people unless completely necessary. Finally, alone in his room, he placed on his coat, and left the room as well, yet he wasn't going in the direction for the cafeteria, he was going to find that one person he was thinking at the moment that made him smile. Walking down the lonely halls of the large tower, he took a sharp turn into one of the halls and crashed into someone, falling to the floor on his back. Lifting himself to his feet, he saw Kiba sitting on the floor massaging his head as Akamaru whined in worry for his master.

"Kiba, sorry I kinda bumped into you. I guess I'm in a hurry," Naruto said as he offered a hand.

The Inuzuka looked at the hand and took it while he stared at him. "Nah, don't worry. Anyway, why are you in such a hurry?"

"I'm looking for Hinata, do you know where she is?"

Kiba glared sternly, "She's in her room. It's the one at the end of this hall."

"Thanks, Kiba, good to see that you made it ok," he said and quickly passed the disturbed Kiba. He walked towards the room at the end of the hall and took a deep breath and knocked on the door. The door swiveled open slowly and a pair of pale lavender eyes looked from inside.

"Naruto-kun!" she exclaimed and her cheeks turned red.

"Hey, Hinata-chan… I saw you when you came in with your team. Did you keep away from the Suna nins?" he asked in a worried voice.

She nodded, and stared into his eyes. She threw her arms around him and rested her head on his chest. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too. I'm sure you must be tired now…" he stared at her, and Hinata's and his stomachs growled together. "Eh," he rubbed the back of his head, "Wanna go have some breakfast?" _'Damn, that sure killed the mood.'_

Hinata chuckled softly; "Sure," she said and closed the door behind her. She walked beside her love, her cheeks keeping their rosy color upon her pale skin. Looking to her side, she could tell Naruto was truly happy by her side and his hand by his side welcomed her hand and held them together.

They both walked silently to the cafeteria, but before they went in, Hinata stopped and frowned. "Neji-niisan is there, he can't see us like this."

"I can't see you like what?"

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To Be Continued... next chapter

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A/N: I already started on the next few lines, but it's still not much. I will try to work on it if there's not much work from school. Still, I hope you liked it, I loved writing this chapter even if it was little by little. So, until next chapter!

- BloodKitsune11


	18. Chapter 18

Hey! Sorry for the long ass wait, but I had absolutely no muse! I was pushing myself to write between school shiz. Who knew that this semester would be harder than the last one. -_-" Oh, well, just so you know this chapter is very short, and at the end there's something extra. I hope you all enjoy even if its just a short chapter. Please review, I think those words to motivate myself to write.

Disclaimer: **[School... it really sucks the life out of anyone.]**

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"I can't see you like what?"

Hinata and Naruto stared at the older Hyuuga, his cold eyes showed his hidden anger of having found his cousin alone with the troublemaker of Konoha.

"Neji-niisan, I… I," she stuttered as both uncurled their hands and her face was a deep shade of red while Naruto's bore a slightly less red tone than Hinata's.

"Enough, Hinata-sama, I can't believe what I'm seeing here. When your father hears about this, you shall face the consequences," his eyes bore into Naruto's own, "And you, I don't ever want to see you close to Hinata-sama again. If I do catch you near her, you won't be functioning well for a very long time." He glared at Naruto as he began to pass by and disappear from view.

Hinata frowned and looked at Naruto. "Naruto-kun… I – I…" she couldn't find words to say and try to comfort her love.

Naruto hugged her, "It's alright Hinata-chan, after these exams are over, I assure you that I will go to your father and talk to him," he stared at her eyes, "about us."

Hinata blushed and nodded, but her eyes never retreated from his. "Ano… shouldn't we at least have some breakfast? We haven't eaten anything."

Naruto sweatdropped, "Haha, I can't believe I forgot about that," he rubbed the back of his head, "So wanna go and get something to eat?"

"Of course," she said in a low tone. Naruto walked in front of Hinata and opened the door, letting her pass first while he walked after her.

Inside were only Sasuke, Sakura, and Ino, both girls were sitting beside him trying to get him to talk. As soon as the couple entered the cafeteria, they were being watched by the trio sitting at the far table in the room. The couple walked towards the table and grabbed two plates and place food on them. They sat together on the table across from Sasuke and the girls, trying to not notice them.

Sasuke looked on over with curiosity, he's never seen Naruto have any interest in the class girls, only as friends, but this really didn't seem like just friends, but like something more. He stared with narrowed charcoal eyes. Sakura and Ino stared at Naruto and Hinata, everybody knew that Hinata had a huge crush on Naruto in the Academy, but this is really something, these two together are complete opposites, yet there they were, eating quietly, taking glances at each other once in a while.

"Sakura, I simply can't believe what I'm seeing right now. Hinata and him, are they…?" Ino went into gossip queen mode quickly and whispered to her friend/rival.

Sakura looked at Ino and raised her eyebrows, "I have no idea, Ino. This may as well be a misunderstanding from our point of view."

Ino's lips curled into a devious smile, _'I _have_ to know!'_ she almost repeated out loud.

Naruto looked at Hinata, their eyes meet, both blush and return to their food. Naruto had finished his food quickly and stared at Hinata. He wanted to be able to be with her even if Neji or his father didn't approve. Reaching into his coat, he plucked one of his longer feathers and twirled it between his fingers. "I know that maybe you have collected many of my feathers over time, but this one's more special. Hinata-chan, I want you to take it, and whenever you want to see me, just send a little chakra through it and I'll be there," he smiled warmly at her.

Hinata took the feather into her hand and nodded happily at him. "Naruto-kun, I – I will treasure it with my heart."

Sakura widened her eyes, that black feather that Hinata held in her hand was Naruto's. How can he just take one off his wings and just give her one? Her mind was trying starting to work qucickly, but the only solution she could come up with is that Naruto finally fell for Hinata.

Ino was grinning madly, what she saw was more than necessary to know that these two are finally getting together, but she didn't understand what the black feather he gave her meant that didn't seem romantic at all, either way, she was satisfied.

Sasuke stared long and hard at both, looks like the one he called brother had finally sets his eyes on the Hyuuga, not that he was bothered by her, but much more by her family, the once rival of the Uchiha clan before they were all killed. He grimaced and stood up from the table, and made his way out of the cafeteria and down le countless halls.

Naruto blinked when he saw Sasuke with a grim look as he walked away, he then returned his eyes on Hinata and saw her frown.

"You should go to him, Naruto-kun. He looks really sad, and maybe it would cheer him up a bit if you talked to him," Hinata said. "And don't worry, I'll be ok. I just have someone to talk to seriously about my matters," she gave a smile and stood up. "See you later, Naruto-kun."

Naruto stood up quickly and took hold of her wrist. "Hinata-chan…" he said softly and tilted her around. Their lips met quickly, both never noticing that the two girls that were supposed to be chasing after Sasuke were hiding behind the cafeteria door and looked on with shocked faces.

Hinata opened her eyes after the greatest good-bye kiss, and blushed lightly, "I'll see you around."

Naruto grinned his famous fox-like grin but it didn't look as fake as the others, that smile really meant something this time. He walked out with Hinata, and parted ways from her as he went towards his room, and she began to walk aimlessly through the corridors in search for her cousin.

---- Final day ----

Everyone in the tower was called to a large room where two hands posed at the end of the wall and stairs led up to some stands. All the teams that had survived the Forest of Death before this day were there, but they weren't many, which Anko saw and an evil grin appeared on her face.

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were standing with the crowd of Genin, among the crowd were Team 8, Team 9, Team Gai, and Kabuto's team from Konoha, the Oto team was there, too, and the Sand siblings were apart from the crowd, as if trying to avoid contact. He stared long at the red head from Suna, but his focus was broken as he heard the Sandaime Hokage talk with a booming voice.

"All the Genin present here in this room, I'm very pleased to say you all passed the second part of the exams. Now we shall move on to the third part, but before we can go on with the matches, I can see that many passed and so, we'll be having a preliminaries match here and shorten the number of Genin. Now, the rules for these preliminaries are…" Sandaime was cut off by the coughing of a sick looking Tokubetsu Jounin with his hitai-ate tied around his head like a bandana.

"Hokage-sama, I think I, as proctor for the preliminaries, should say the rules," he said between coughs.

Hiruzen looked at the man and waved in front of him, "As you please, Hayate-san."

Hayate bowed and stared at each Genin in the room. "The rules for the preliminaries are the following: you may NOT kill your opponent in these matches; I decide when to stop the match whenever I understand I can, let it be for knocking your opponent out cold or simply because I deem he or she cannot continue on; any kinds of weapons and jutsu may be used. So, now that you understand the rules of these preliminaries, those who don't think they have the will to continue on, raise your hand."

In the middle of the crowd, a lone hand rose, corresponding to the silver-haired Kabuto. "Proctor, I find that I don't have sufficient chakra to carry on to the preliminaries."

Hayate and Hiruzen narrowed their eyes, "Of course, please follow the Chuunin and he'll escort you out of the arena."

Kabuto walked away and was lead by a Chuunin out of the arena, yet somehow no one seemed to notice the smirk on his face as he adjusted his glasses.

Hayate waited until Kabuto was outside and returned to the Genin. "Ok, the preliminaries will be paired up using the electronic board on the wall," he said and pointed to the huge board above him, "The board will pick them randomly so you may even have a match with a fellow teammate. So, the ones to start the preliminaries will be…" he and everyone looked up at the the board as it stopped in two names: Sasuke Uchiha and Yoroi Akadou.

Sasuke looked back at his teammates and smirked. "Good luck Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said as she started clapped her hands in glee. Naruto gave him his foxy grin and thumbs up. "You better win, because I want to see how well you've gotten."

Hayate looked back at the group, "Sasuke Uchiha and Yoroi Akadou, both of you will stay in the arena. The rest of you go up to the stands."

Sasuke eyed at his teammates as they retreated and self-assured, he would win and pass to the finals to make Chuunin, and finally be a step forward to his goal. He stared at the other Genin in front of him.

Hayate cleared his throat and looked at both Genin. "Alright, start!" He jumped back, but stayed at the arena to observe the match.

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A/N: Ok, so this chapter is seriously shorter than I expected. I was straining my brains, trying to get inspiration, but I didn't like anything I was writing. Anyway, I hope this is alright with you guys, but before you say this chapter really sucks, please read the omake!!

_

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Omake – takes place 3 years before graduation._

Seven –year old Naruto was walking warily towards the dango shop, where Anko said to meet her in at noon. He stepped in and quickly spotted the purple-haired kunoichi, and moved towards her.

"Oh, Naruto-kun," she looked outside, "You're early. Want some dangos?" she said with a mouthful of the delicious food.

"Nope, I already ate, but thank you, Anko-neechan," he gave her his wide grin.

She shrugged and ate the last stick of the delicacy, so she stood up, left the money for the dango and left with her little blonde 'otouto'.

"Anko-neechan, where are we going?" Naruto said as he noticed they where going towards a huge forest surrounded by fences, which had their 'Keep Out' signs posted every few yards on them. He looked up to her face and only saw a smirk, a very evil smirk. Suddenly, he noticed she had stopped walking and looked in front of him. The tall trees seemed to be giants.

Anko breathed in deeply and exhaled loudly, "Ah, this, Naruto-kun, is Training Ground 44 or better known as the Forest of Death. I'm its protector, I guess, since I keep post there," she pointed to a small cottage.

Naruto looked on, "So, this is where you wanted me to come with you?" But his response was unexpected, she was cackling. He widened his eyes and stared into the wicked eyes of Anko.

"Did you think I was just gonna show you here, gaki? I'm gonna teach you how to listen to your surroundings and give you some more stamina… my way," she gave him a malevolent look.

Naruto froze… "Y – your w – way???" he stuttered. He saw her nod, _'Oh, shit!'_

"Come on, otouto," she said in a mocking tone, passing beside him and dragged him by his arm.

"W – wait! In there?!!!" he screamed desperately, but heard nothing except her chuckles.

She dragged him until they were well into the forest, no sight of the fences or the tower in the middle, just trees, trees, and more trees.

"Ok, Naruto-kun, your objective here is to use your survival skills. I will come at you with the intent to hurt you. But we're not the only one in this forest, of course, inside here are many creatures that are always on the haunt, yet they're not like animals you see everyday. They are huge and viscious!" she said. She loved to scare everybody especially whenever she was proctor in the second stage of the Chuunin exams. Those faces of horror were her entertainment.

---

Poor Naruto, he was shaking like a leaf and Anko was nowhere to be seen but her blood-chilling laughter echoed through the atmosphere. He can't belive that she was even making him do this, running from humongous spiders, centepedes, even extremely giant snakes. The thing about the snakes was that some of them carried Anko on top of their heads. Right now, hiding under a tree's roots was the next best thing. He had hidden for a long time, maybe it was a good time to get out of there and run. With the little he had learned by now about sensing surroundings, which is better than nothing at all, he concentrated on his surroundings and felt nothing.

Oh, how wrong he was. He turned quickly to the whizzing sound of a kunai, but didn't dodge in time and it struck his thigh. He clenched his teeth in order to not to give away his place to the bigger creatures of the forest, and glared at the purple-haired woman on the tree.

"Don't get to excited, gaki!" she yelled and a giant snake lunged from under her as she jumped on its head and chased after the blonde.

He panicked, he couldn't move his leg completely and his feet felt numb. The kunai lay in the floor and he ran as fast as he could as he dragged his leg. The giant snake would definitely catch up to him. He closed his eyes as he ran, used his hearing and smell to direct his body as he tried to think of a strategy. The snake was almost on top of him, but he turned around abruptly and his eyes held courage. He dug on his kunai pouch and held a weapon in each hand. Just as the snake stopped, Naruto ran and jumped towards the belly of the snake and dug his kunai onto the soft scales.

Anko looked indifferent as she jumped from the snake as its belly bled from the two large scars, finally falling over with a thunderous thud. She landed behind Naruto and grinned, nobody would've thought to confuse the snake and hit it at its most vulnerable.

"Good job, Naruto-kun," she walked over to him.

He turned around and gave an exhausted smile, "Th – thanks, Anko-neechan." He breathed heavily as he rested his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. He felt her hand on his shoulder and looked up to see her smile.

"Come on, I'm going to treat you to your favorite," as soon as the words escaped her mouth, Naruto whooped loudly, but she groaned, "Please try to eat moderately, I don't have enough money."

Naruto nodded and walked slowly beside her, feeling as his wounds healed as quickly as ever. Anko spared quick glances at the boy, even though she wouldn't show her feelings, inside she felt really content of having to train him a bit, even if it were a bit harshly.

_'Maybe, when the time is right and he's strong enough, I can let him sign the scroll for summoning snakes. I'd have to talk to the Snake Boss and Hokage-sama to make sure,'_ Anko thought as a smile curled her lips. She and Naruto turned towards the ramen stand and quickly went inside as Naruto greeted the old man.

"Hi, Teuchi-ojisan!" he said, sitting in his usual seat to eat his usual meal.

"Oho, Naruto-kun, back again, huh? Oh, Anko-san how have you been?" Teuchi said with his jolly voice and bowed to greet her.

Anko gave him a wide grin, "Same old, same old, Teuchi-san. Today I was training the little gaki, so since he survived it, I'm treating him to lunch."

"Ah, I bet your training must be very dangerous. Please don't go killing my favorite customer!" he exclaimed, but his face told he was very amused about her training Naruto, he knew it was for the best.

"Don't worry, I won't, now… order us some of your specialty, we'll be staying here a while."

"Of course," he said and turned to his daughter in the kitchen, "Ayame-chan, our specialty for our most promising customers."

Naruto looked like he was ready to pounce as the smell of the cooking noodles overwhelmed his nose and licked his lips. "Oi, Anko-neechan, can Yami-kun come play with me?"

Anko's eyes diverted into the cerulean ones of the blonde and sighed, "Why would you want to play with him, he's a snake. Don't you have friends to go with anywhere?"

"But, he plays hide-and-seek with me… plus, he does usually teach me to be aware of my surroundings, too."

She hesitated for a while, was that why Yami disappeared from her room sometimes? If he's also teaching him some awareness, maybe he could take care of the training when she wasn't there, except it would be less dangerous, but training the same. "Of course, Naruto-kun, just let me…" she trailed off as she extended her arm to his shoulder and the black-scaled snake slithered from her sleeve and perched itself around his neck.

"Konnichi-wa, Naruto-kun," the black snake whispered into his ear.

Naruto smiled, "Thanks, Neechan…" he said but quickly reverted to the plate in front of him, picking up the chopsticks and yelled, "Itadakimasu!" as he started to gulp down the miso ramen.

Anko laughed to herself and dug into her own ramen.

* * *

A/N: Now, with the addition of the omake, I think I met with my 'ok' level of satisfaction. So, I hope you all like this chapter, please review if you want me to hasten my writing. I'm serious. Ok, then until next update.

- BloodKitsune11


	19. Chapter 19

EDIT: Ok, I uploaded this chapter again because I was re-reading it and found too many grammatical errors!!! Anyway... thanks for reading. =)

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Hey! Finally, you must be saying right now. Sorry for the lateness I have problems uploading files here, so until support contacts me, I used another file, deleted it completely to copy-paste from Open Office. Well, I don't think I have any excuses, so I'm sorry even if it doesn't cut it.

So, the poll was very clear that you guys just wanted Naruto's and Hinata's match. Well, here it is: THE AWAITED CHAPTER 19!!!

Disclaimer: **[I think I finally broke through my writer's block with this chapter :)**

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Naruto and the rest of the Rookies looked on, it looks like whatever Sasuke does, that guy can dodge and absorb his jutsu, so Sasuke's resorting to taijutsu. It was a close match, but Sasuke won as he performed what he called 'Shishi Endan' (Lion Barrage), a noticeable copy of Lee's taijutsu technique. After he was declared winner, everyone stared at the screen, anticipating their matches. The bright words stopped at the names of Abumi Zaku, the boy who Sasuke had broken his arms, and Aburame Shino.

"Abumi Zaku and Aburame Shino pass down to the arena," said Hayate between coughs.

Both boys appeared in the arena, but Shino's brows rose with curiosity.

"You are making a risky choice to proceed with this match, seeing as your arm is injured," Shino assumed.

The Oto nin grinned, "Nah, even with my broken arm, I know I can beat you!" he exclaimed.

Shino kept his next comment reserved and stood waiting for the proctor to call the match.

Hayate stared once more at the injured arm of the boy and then at the bug user. "Start!"

The match had a slow start, but began by the impatience of the injured boy. He began to make one handed blasts from his mutated arm while the Aburame made swift dodges and effective strategies. All in all, Zaku had take off his supposed injured arm to attack, but found that his attack backfired as the Kikaichu beetles from Shino had clogged the pathways and had drained him from the chakra. Both arms imploded, leaving him unconscious and without arms. The winner of the match: Aburame Shino.

Shino walked over to his teammates as Zaku was taken away by the medic nins. Once again, the screen ran through names and stopped at Tsurugi Misumi, from Kabuto's team, and Sabaku no Kankuro. At first instance everyone had already declared that Misumi would win against the Suna nin, yet they were all managed to be surprised at the twist when the real Kankuro was disguised as the bundle at the back of the puppet. This surprise became an advantage to him and gave him the upper hand, which allowed him to win.

The next match was one the Rookies won't ever forget: the rivals/best friends Sakura and Ino were pitted against each other. Sure, they had it coming, though they treated the match as a way to decide who was going to be Sasuke's girlfriend, which he found greatly annoying from the stands and didn't want to stare at the match. As soon as Hayate called the match, it dragged on as they parried, not bothering to do any techniques. Afterward, both seemed to have the same thought as they punched each others faces, knocking them out cold. Neither won the match.

Just as both unconscious girls were moved from the arena, the fifth match was called, Sabaku no Temari versus TenTen. Many were surprised that the match had ended so quickly because TenTen was recognized as a strong kunoichi despite her small use of chakra. She was handled gently by the arms of Lee as he threatened Temari for insulting his teammate even though she tried her best. It was up to Maito Gai to stop Lee from fighting against the Sand kunoichi so he wouldn't be disqualified.

The sixth match came for the lazy Nara sleeping in the stands. He stands up only to notice he was matched with a girl, Tsuchi Kin, the girl Naruto fought in the Forest of Death. Dragging himself out to the arena he stared lazily at the girl. Hayate started the match and Kin started with her senbon. Of course, she never knew about her opponent and neither did he, but judging by the use of senbon, she didn't use any normal shinobi weapons. Shikamaru sighed at how easy and fast this match would be. Still, he planned ahead for anything that may happen. The match ended quickly after Shikamaru dodged a couple of wired senbon, weaving his shadow under the fine shadow of the wire, he made her throw a kunai as he threw one too, by allowing himself to dodge the kunai, instead she hit her head against the wall and became unconscious.

Everybody cheered for the lazy boy, he groaned, but smiled anyway as he dragged his feet up to the stands, where they all looked at the flashing names across the board. Kiba whooped loudly and stared at Naruto, who had his foxy grin.

"Yeah, Akamaru, this'll be an easy win against the dead last!" he said out loud and jumped excitedly down to the arena.

Naruto grinned and jumped down facing Kiba. "That's what you think, Kiba!"

The dog user gave a toothy grin and crouched into his clan's stance, Akamaru growling beside him.

Hayate looked at the two and nodded, "Alright, start!"

Kiba and Naruto stared at each other, keen eyes clashing with azure orbs. As if a silent signal went off, both charged and made the same moves, canceling each other out. Kiba quickly realizing this would need some effort after all, dodged at last minute and swipe kicked, making Naruto trip and fall onto his back. Kiba could swear he heard something like faint bones cracking upon Naruto's body hitting the floor.

"Already done for, Naruto?!" he said.

Naruto groaned; that fall was hard enough to break the hollow bones of his wings, but thankfully, Kyuubi was quick to heal them. He stood up and glared at Kiba with a grin plastered on his face. "I'm just getting started."

Kiba smirked and looked to his side to find Akamaru ready to fight and gave him a soldier pill, making his fur change red for a few seconds. "Alright, Akamaru, here we go!" They charged at the blonde, crisscrossing on the way. "Tsuuga!"

The twin tornadoes drilled their way towards Naruto. The blonde studied the trajectory of them and waited at last minute and jumped over both, landing behind them and made the familiar cross hand seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Five clones appeared beside him and circled around the floating dust surrounding the impact of the dog user. They readied kunai and shuriken, their eyes focused on the core of the dust cloud.

Kiba, knowing that the clones were surrounding him, jumped out of the cloud from one side and Akamaru from the other, dodging most of the weapons, which hit the clone across from them, but only one clone was left and as soon as Kiba landed, the clone threw the weapons skillfully before deactivating itself. The brunette's eyes widened as he dodged at last minute, the kunai and shuriken grazing his cheek, his left arm, and his legs. He growled and stared at the real Naruto.

"Had enough?" Naruto asked running towards him, aiming to get his gut to let him without air.

Kiba smirked as the Uzumaki was within range and threw smoke bombs that his clan used for surprise attacks. Said blonde was blinded by the screen, his senses didn't pick up anything. So he resorted to chakra enhanced hearing and picked up faint footfalls from the brunette and his dog. The Inuzuka was moving quickly in the smoke, giving quick but powerful punches and kicks at Naruto, trying to keep his position from being discovered. He also managed to make Akamaru change as a clone of him, making the effectiveness of the hits double.

---

Kakashi watched the match carefully, knowing that the blonde had something up his sleeve. His thoughts were broken as Kurenai stood beside him, watching both Genin.

"You know Kakashi-san, no matter what updates I've been getting about Naruto, I don't think he's any match for Kiba, yet."

Kakashi's single eye looked at her and sighed, "I don't think you know how much potential he has. He may as well be playing in this match. Even as his sensei, there's always something new to learn about him. Just watch," he eye smiled.

Kurenai looked curiously at him and back down at the match.

---

Naruto was basically attacking blindly, the only hit landed was against Kiba's retreating hand, but, obviously, he isn't going to go and completely charge his punches, it'll be a waste of chakra. Finally, he saw a speck of clothing and grinned. He reached out towards it and realized this was the Akamaru Kiba clone, it whimpered as Naruto quickly thought of a plan regarding tricking Kiba. He fought to get a good grip of Akamaru's hands and thrust a knee to his gut, leaving him unconscious, yet, surprisingly, the beast mimicry didn't disappear, which made his plan easier.

Kiba was worried when he didn't hear Akamaru through the smoke and decided to fall back. Suddenly, he saw as two clones of him flew simultaneously from the cloud. Both had chakra, yes, but both still smelled of his companion. His decision was hindered until one of the bodies became engulfed in a puff of smoke and Akamaru's body appeared. He was going to run towards Akamaru, but decided he would finish the match by making sure the "Naruto" in disguise was really unconscious. From the corner of his eye, he saw Akamaru stand up and run towards him.

The Akamaru body disappeared and where it stood now was Naruto, his foxy grin as wide as ever as he ran behind Kiba and delivered a roundhouse kick. The brunette didn't expect the blonde to actually trick him, but it was too late to dodge and struck the ground with a loud thud. Naruto checked on the Inuzuka, but he was out cold and where the other Kiba was, Akamaru finally dispelled the jutsu and breathed slowly, as he lay in the ground to get some needed rest.

"Winner of this match: Uzumaki Naruto!" Hayate said, as the medic nin ran into the arena to grab the teen and his ninken.

Naruto grinned and chuckled to himself as he ran up to the stands and found Hinata waiting for him.

"Naruto-kun, here," she said as she held a small jar with some nice smelling cream inside. "It's ointment for the cuts." Everyone that knew her was astounded that she didn't stutter around him anymore.

"Thanks, Hinata-chan," he took the ointment and rubbed some on the almost healed cuts that Kiba had managed to hit while in the cloud of smoke.

She smiled at him as both went to their teams and watched as the board began to jumble the names of the six people left to fight. Everyone was shocked when both of the Hyuuga's names were upon the brilliant board.

Hinata stared at Neji, while he a smirk flashed across his face and began to descend to the arena. She fidgeted and her heart beat fast, she didn't want to fight him. A sudden weight fell on her shoulders and she turned her head to see that Naruto is the one that placed his hands on her.

"Come on, Hinata-chan, show him that you're not the weakling he sees," he said and gave a reinforcing smile.

She nodded and found confidence in his words as she lowered to the arena where Neji waited with eyes filled with hatred.

Hayate looked at both, he could feel the tension between the Hyuuga. "Start!"

Both lowered into the Gentle Fist of the Hyuuga clan and activated their Byakugan.

"Hinata-sama, this will be for your own good, stand down, you're no match for me," Neji said.

Hinata grated her teeth, tired of being called weak. She furrowed her brow and stared at him, no words were said to tell how much it angered her. Neji scoffed. They started to circle around analyzing each others movements. As if a gunshot sounded off, they ran at each other and started a flurry of swipes and palm strikes at each other. No one could see if they were hitting each other or not, they were really fast.

'_Damn, Hinata-sama… when did you get this fast?!'_ Neji pondered.

Hinata saw the opening and was quick to take advantage of it, closing the chakra flow from the tenketsu of his arm. Neji widened his eyes as his left right arm fell limp and glared at Hinata.

"You…!" he growled as he started to attack even faster than before.

Hinata was taken aback at the sudden quickness of his attacks and began to close tenketsu here and there, but nowhere fatal as she deflected those. They finally separated, Hinata panting heavily as she stared at Neji and he did the same, but he was barely tired.

"You should have backed down when you had the chance."

"No, I would never stand down, because I will never give up, not against you! Open your eyes!" she yelled and straightened herself to the Gentle Fist stance.

Neji huffed and charged again, this time, his eyes failed to reserve his intention to possibly kill her. Hinata knew as soon as she saw the look and forced herself to fight once again, but her moves were sluggish and her chakra was nearly depleted.

The male Hyuuga finally saw the chance to fulfill his reason to fight her, and sent his palm to her chest. Hinata's eyes widened and the arena filled with silence. From the edge of her lip, blood trailed down and she began to gasp and take gulps of air. She fell to her knees and stared at Neji.

Neji looked at his hand and back at her, _'I'll__ finish this once and for all!'_

"This match is over!" Hayate yelled, but Neji didn't seem to listen. He ran at them as Kurenai and the medics rapidly appeared beside Hinata. Hayate stopped Neji, and Kurenai held the unconscious Hinata onto the stretcher.

Naruto clenched his jaw, his eyes betraying his calm appearance. Placing a hand on the metal of the handrails, he jumped down to the arena and went to Hinata's side. Her pale face traced by the rich red color of her own blood was enough to make his anger flared, unnatural killing intent towards the Hyuuga. Neji froze under its forced and stared at the blonde.

"I swear, if I get to fight you in the Finals, I will avenge Hinata and I _will_ win, you worthless piece of trash," he growled and turned abruptly to follow the medics towards Hinata's room.

Once he left, Neji exhaled the breath he didn't know he was holding and walked up towards the stand to hide in the shadows.

---

The winged blonde sat on the stool beside Hinata's bed, the peaceful semblance of her face calmed him, but worry also ran though him. The medics told him that from the strike that Neji made to her chest, her heart was very unstable and so was her breathing. No one knows if she could recuperate or not.

"**Kit, we know that you want to help her, but those medics don't know how to treat that right."**

\\ Where are you going with that, Kyuubi-sama? \\

"**Find a way to get her in your mind scape."**

"_**Naruto-kun, you have to use your doujutsu. Make sure that you force your blood through her temples where her Byakugan nerves connect to the brain. It'll be enough to connect her mind to ours."**_

Naruto blinked. \\ Ok… how do you know all that? \\

"_**Just bring her in… I'll tell you later."**_

He shook his head and looked at Hinata. He concentrated his chakra to his eyes, they turned dark red, and two bloody tears ran down his cheeks. He cleaned them with each hand and placed his tainted hands on her temples, using chakra to force the blood though her pores into her nervous system. He gasped, his eyes abruptly went blind and he fell unconscious beside Hinata.

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A/N: Huh, what do you think? I'm finally semi-free from writer's block, I am already taking notes on how to make the ending, but it's still not concrete, and I've already started the next chapter! XD! If school work or chores aren't like these last weeks, maybe I could make enough progress and even publish chapter 20 by next week, but it's not guaranteed!

Thanks for reading, please review! Again, sorry for the lateness and I hope that by next upload I don't have this trouble.

- BloodKitsune11


	20. Chapter 20

YO! How awesome is this?! I got this chapter out quicker than I thought I could!! *-* I hope this makes up for lateness... I think this is a good chapter although I'm tempted to edit it. But, since I cannot delay it anymore and I really don't want to put it on hiatus, I will keep updating!!! So here's chapter 20! Enjoy!!!

Disclaimer: **[I needed this weekend getaway to finish this chapter, I hope its enough!]**

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Azure eyes stare at the large cage, but what gets his attention is that the pale girl he saw outside his mind scape was now inside.

**"****You're finally awake, kit,"** the Kyuubi said, surprisingly in his human form gripping the golden bars of the cage.

"Hinata-chan!" he ran to the unconscious girl.

**"If you want her to truly be able to recover from her bastard cousin's attack, bring her inside the cage so I can diagnose and heal her better."**

Knowing not to question the kitsune, he took her into his arms and slowly walked inside the cage, Kyuubi waiting patiently for them.

**"Place her here," **he pointed to the space in front of him.

Naruto quickly responded and gently placed her in front of the Kyuubi and sat beside her, grasping her pale hand. Red chakra surrounded her body, scanning the damage inside. **"****Kit, her heart's starting to fail, but her will is strong, she's trying to survive."**

Naruto stared with wide eyes at the red head, but the kitsune was concentrated in his work. He placed a hand on top of her chest and a type of seal appeared over her heart.

"What are you gonna do?"

**"I'll be using this seal as a portal to be able to get a better view of her heart and it also provides me with a way to heal it without cutting open her body."**

Naruto looked over and saw the heart through the seal, it look fragile and irregular. The kitsune's hands were skillful around the frail heart and were fixing up things here and there making it actually look healthier.

With a loud sigh, Kyuubi deactivated the seal and stared at the blonde. **"****She's gonna survive, kit! Not only that, but I made her a permanent link to our mind scape."**

"What?!" he yelled.

**"****Hey, I thought you were going to be glad I did. The link means that whenever you start using my youki or whenever you go berserk because of it, she'll know immediately. Also, if you ever want to tell her about me, the link works too, so you can show her instead of tell her."**

"You seriously thought up way ahead. And isn't there a way to train myself to use your youki?"

**"****Maybe, but it'll require lots of hard training. I'll think about it, kit, but right now, I think you should be going to the outside, your girlfriend's gonna wake up."**

Naruto didn't have time to respond as Kyuubi kicked him out of his own mind and woke up with a start. Noticing he was on top of Hinata, he scrambled to his feet and stared as she started to wake up too.

Hinata fluttered her eyes open and sat up on the bed, noticing that she may as well be on the hospital. She blinked as her vision stopped spinning and noticed the familiar black trench coat sitting next to her. "Naruto-kun?!"

"Hi, Hinata-chan," he said with a smile.

She smiled back, "How long have I been out?"

Naruto looked at the analog clock on the wall, "You've been out for like an hour or so."

She guessed that being out for just an hour, everything must still hurt, but she was stunned when she stood while holding the rim of the hospital bed. She was completely healed, no longer could she feel her tenketsu blocked nor she could feel any bruises. "My wounds… Naruto-kun, what did you do?" she said with a smile on her face, feeling better than ever.

"I didn't do anything, someone _else_ did," he said, looking away from her.

Hinata looked at him. She opened her mouth to say something when some noise nearby warned them of people hurrying by.

"Quick, make way, make way!!!" yelled a woman in medic's clothing, rushing behind her was a stretcher with a much disfigured green clad boy on. It could only mean one boy: Lee.

Hinata ran beside Naruto as both peeked outside to see which room was Lee taken to. Naruto turned to Hinata with a grim look on his face.

"He looked awful, Hinata-chan. We must know with who he was paired with!" he insisted and walked down the hall to Lee's room.

The woman looked at the door where she heard footfalls come closer, "Sorry, I can't attend anybody right now. This patient needs all the help he can or he'll die!"

Naruto froze. 'Lee' and 'dying' don't go really well on the same sentence. He saw the state the boy was in, bruises and cuts everywhere, but his left side was completely smashed, and looked highly unrecognizable. He heard the machine that beeped quickly with his rushing heart, it made the blonde even more scared to lose such a companion, no matter how crazy he was.

**"Ugh, kit, don't tell me you want to work on that kid too?"**

\\ Kyuubi-sama, I would never leave behind any of my precious people, no matter who it is. \\

Kyuubi chuckles echoed in his mind, **"****Do whatever you want the most."**

Naruto's accomplished smile gleamed. He would save Lee no matter what, but it that was only the outside of his body then the inside must be in a more critical state. He knew he didn't want to resort to making him drink his blood tears, but he had to if he wanted Lee to survive. He wasn't sure, though, that using his doujutsu two times in a row might actually stress his vision, but he was determined to save anyone. Turning to look inside the room again, after a moment of thinking, he noticed that the doctor was done fairly quickly by plugging Lee to the machines that help him breathe.

The boy with the now messy black hair and weak eyes glanced at the door where he couldn't see exactly what was there due to his blurry vision. Squinting, he still couldn't make out anybody, yet the colors suggested a blonde with black attire. The oxygen mask over his nose and mouth muffled his questions to the person there, but he swore he heard as if drops were pouring in a glass of liquid.

Naruto activated his doujutsu again, and as he expected, it was a lot more stressful and needed more focus on the eyes because if was the first time he used it repeatedly. He took a glass that had some water in it and let his tears fall into the water mixing in with the transparent liquid. After having a considerable amount in the glass, he looked back at Lee, noticing his lips moving, but only a muffled mumble was heard through the oxygen mask.

As weak as he was, Lee wanted to know who was there. Slowly and painfully, he grabbed his mask and lowered it from his face, looking at the blonde. "W-who are y-you?"

"Lee-san, it's me, Naruto…"

"Naruto-kun, you are still h-here in the hospital?" he stuttered.

The blonde looked at him. It was really horrible watching the normally spontaneous boy in this state. "Yeah, I was visiting Hinata-chan. But I brought you this," he lifted the glass with the red liquid.

Lee looked at the glass and made a questioning face. "Is… it medicine?"

"It is, Lee. Please, drink it!" he placed the glass at his mouth, making him drink it involuntarily.

The bushy browed boy widened his eyes as he was shoved the drink down his throat. It tasted funny, like if he was drinking blood but more watery, yet it was beginning to burn his insides and that feeling crawled throughout his whole body. He closed his eyes, not even noticing that he wasn't drinking anymore, and clenched his jaw as every part of him burn up. Small trails of vapor rose from his skin as the scars and gashes were healing up rapidly and the burning was beginning to subside yet there were a few cracking sounds heard that meant that the bones were bonding again.

Naruto could only stare as right before his eyes, Lee had healed completely, but the slight side effect from all the healing was exhaustion as each cell was using energy to recover swiftly. He sighed and rubbed his eyes. He turned around and saw that Hinata was right behind him, watching him with wide eyes.

"Your eyes… d-do you have a doujutsu?!"

"Were you there the whole time?"

She nodded, and her hands held his face and used her fingers to open his eyes, "Do they get dark red when using the doujutsu?"

He nodded dumbly.

"What do they do?"

He took a deep breath, "They bleed," he felt her grip tighten, "The blood can heal, but," he closed his eyes to deactivate the doujutsu, "They can also be used as poison."

She let go of his head, and stared. Naruto kept his eyes closed, and waited for anything. He felt her hug his waist, resting her head on his chest. "It doesn't matter, Naruto-kun. Why don't we let Lee-san rest, now?"

Naruto opened his eyes and stared into Hinata's and nodded. They walked away and sneaked their way out of the hospital to get to the tower. Weaving through the many halls of the tower, they got to the arena. Just as they had gone in, Chouji was being carried out of the arena in a stretcher. When the doors closed behind them with a loud thud, all heads whirled over to them. Naruto walked over to the group that was called by Hayate to pass to the finals while Hinata stayed in the stands, the Jounin glanced at her. Neji from the group glared and she back at him.

Hayate cleared his throat to get the attention back to him. "Welcome back, Naruto-san. Like I was saying, those of you here are passing over to the finals. These will be held a month from now so you have enough time to prepare. The pairings will be given like this: you take a paper from the basket. It will tell the number you are and then you'll be shown the arrangements used for the Exams so you'll know who your opponent will be, but only one of you will have a 'bye' and will automatically pass to the next round. Understood?"

The Genin nodded and waited until the basket passed to their hands and took a paper. They all unfolded their papers and stared at Hayate till he showed the bracket. The proctor took out a fairly large sized paper and showed the pairings of numbers.

"The arrangements for the exams are made like a tournament's. Number 1," he called and Naruto raised his hand, "Number 2," Neji raised his, "You two will be the first match. Number 3 and 4," Gaara and Sasuke raised their hands, "You'll be the second match. Number 5 and 6," Shino and Kankuro raised their hands, "You'll be the third match. Number 7 and 8," Temari and Shikamaru raised their hands, "You'll be the fourth match, and Number 9 will have a bye and pass to the next round automatically. We'll see you in a month, so train hard and you might be able to be promoted."

With that, Hayate disappeared in a puff of smoke and the Genin dispersed. Hinata appeared by Naruto's side and both walked out of the arena.

"How are you going to train to go against Neji-niisan?" Hinata wondered.

Naruto looked at her, "I have no idea, and I'm pretty sure that Kakashi-sensei will only have eyes for Sasuke so he could stand a chance against Gaara."

"Maybe I could help train you, I am a Hyuuga too."

He smiled, "That's a great idea… what the hell is that guy doing?!" he pointed at a white haired man with red robes and wooden sandals. The man was peeping at the women's hot springs.

Hinata and Naruto hid behind some bushed near the man and both yelled, "EEK A PERVERT!!!"

The man looked around frantically as the women quickly surrounded him, dressed in only their towels, and proceeded to beat the crap out of him. The couple walked out of their hiding place in a fit of laughter. The bruised man looked at them and stomped their way. "You brats ruined my research!!!"

"Serves you right! Anyway what are you doing in Konoha? I've never seen you here before," Hinata said.

The man straightened and began to do a weird dance, "Well, I'm the famous book writer of the Five Nations, I am the man that woes all the ladies, I am the one and only, Toad Sage Jiraiya!!!"

Both Genin sweat dropped and looked at Jiraiya.

"Say, blondie, have I seen you somewhere?" '_He looks an awful lot like Minato-kun.'_

Naruto raised a brow, "Of course not, Ero-sennin. Why would I even know you? Let's go, Hinata-chan,' he grabbed her hand and began to walk away.

"Hey, wait," Jiraiya called out and they turned around, "Wouldn't you like to be trained by one of the legendary Sannin of Konoha?!" he said with a wide grin.

Naruto's and Hinata's eyes widened, he is a Sannin?!

"Of course you would. Why don't you come with me now, to the river, perhaps I could better your chakra control," he turned around and began walking.

The couple looked at each other and began to walk behind the Toad Sage. Jiraiya stopped in an isolated river and turned to the pair. "Have you ever done the tree climbing exercise?" They nodded. "Good, then I can skip that part and go to the water walking exercise. Before you ask, yes, this is a bit harder because unlike tree climbing, you have to constantly balance your chakra output on your feet to stay on the surface. Like this," he walked over to the water and stood on it. "So, are you willing to learn from your new sensei?"

They nodded and stood up to face Jiraiya.

"Ok, why don't you tell me your names, then?" he said walking back to the shore and stood in front of them.

"My name's Hyuuga Hinata," she introduced herself first.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto," said the blond next.

'_Uzumaki… that name sounds very fam — wait, isn't this?!' _He stared at the blonde, it made perfect sense and how couldn't he have seen this the moment he saw the kid. Finally coming to his senses, he smiled at them. "Alright, so the first step to walking on water is to go light before you master it. Since you're only starting, it's better if you have less clothing so it wouldn't weigh much when you fall in the water."

Naruto fidgeted, and stared warily. "Um, Ero-sensei, a-are you sure I should, you know, take off my trench coat?"

The white haired man looked at him, "Yes, you have to. That trench coat will make it harder to do this. I don't care if you have issues with your self-esteem. Now take off the coat," Jiraiya insisted, but the blonde seemed to be worried. He walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, kid, is it because you have something you don't want anybody to see, or is it really your issues? I can see that something is bothering you."

Naruto lowered his head, "I don't really want some guy I just met to see."

The older man raised his brow, "To see what?" He felt as the blond's tension grew, but then heard a sigh.

"I'll show you since you're my new sensei," he mumbled and started to unbutton the coat.

Jiraiya's eyes grew wide, "Naruto…" he said in a low voice.

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A/N: OOOH! Jiraiya finally appears! I love Jiraiya and his attitude, that's why I cried when I saw him die!! (sorry if somebody didn't know this) I'm trying not to make him to OC, hope I'm succeeding. So, I'm already starting on the next chapter and if I'm correct, it may have another early update, yet I still don't guarantee it.

Don't be surprised that I'm asking for the reviews, cuz I'm beginning to think that they are motivation to write. ;D

- BloodKitsune11


	21. Chapter 21

YAY! I finally finished this chapter! It was kinda hard to place this chapter into words from my mind, cause I'm scared of ruining it, but I think it came out great! Well, I won't keep you from your reading experience, so, here you have chapter 21!!!!

Disclaimer: **[Ero-sennin is probably the most inspiring pervert ever!]**

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Naruto lifted his head to see the amazed face of the Sannin.

"You remind me very much to a student I had once, Naruto," he said with a dim face.

"Jiraiya-sama," Hinata said, "what did your student had in common with Naruto-kun?"

The man smiled, "He was the best student I've ever had. He was very stubborn though, he wouldn't stop training until he got the exercise down. He was always trying to strengthen his weaknesses. If he was alive, his smile would be the greatest thing I could ever see if I was down," he sighed, his smile never left his face, "He always made my day… Well, enough about my life, why don't we get your training started?!"

Hinata and Naruto nodded and stood by the water.

"Now, remember to keep the flow of chakra at your feet so you can keep standing."

They each stepped foot on the water, finding that it felt like a wobbly floor, but keeping the control of the chakra at their soles was troublesome. After five seconds, both Genin fell with a loud splash, Jiraiya could only laugh as he saw them step out of the water.

They spent the rest of their afternoon practicing the water walking technique, yet all Jiraiya had done was disappear for five minutes before Naruto found him peeping at the girls down the river. Let's just say he won't be chasing girls for a while. Hinata and Naruto were done for the day and began to put on their clothes on top of the wet moist ones, but the blond had to wait for his feathers to dry first.

"So, gaki, how did you get your wings?" Jiraiya leaned against the tree next to Naruto.

He looked up at the white haired man, "It was a really horrible day if you ask me. The only thing I can say is that I was 5 years old and I was found unconscious in the Forest of Death by Anko-neechan."

Jiraiya's face twisted in anger, "You were beat up, weren't you."

Naruto didn't speak and folded his wings onto his back and covered them with his trench coat.

"Naruto-kun, Hinata-chan… do you know how to summon?" he asked both Genin as they were done dressing. Both shook their heads.

"Well, I'd be happy to help you two, but maybe tomorrow. I'm sure you are tired right now, so meet me here again at 7am to keep practicing your chakra control," Jiraiya said with a grin and began to walk away, disappearing through the trees of the hidden river.

Hinata turned to the winged blonde, "Naruto-kun, I'll see you tomorrow, then," she said and turned to leave. '_I don't want to leave, but I just know that Otousama will get branch members or even Neji-niisan himself to get me, and that's the worst thing that would happen right now. Sorry Naruto-kun.'_

Naruto saw Hinata leave, Kyuubi opened the mental link between her and him and heard her thoughts. He frowned but she had already left and he was finally alone. He turned the opposite way from where Jiraiya and Hinata went and stopped in front of a tall tree. "Anko-neechan, I know you're there."

A rustle of the shaking branches was the only noise made as Anko jumped down from the tree. She looked down at the blonde and grinned, but instead of her usually crazy one she bore a nice one, which looked weird for anyone who doesn't completely know her.

"Sure am glad you passed the Forest of Death, gaki. I heard that your team encountered…" she paused her stare diverted and hardened, "Orochimaru-teme!"

"Yeah, we did. The only one that was really hurt from us was Sasuke-niisan. He received the Curse Mark from the Hebi-teme."

Anko's hand unconsciously rubbed against her own Curse Mark.

"Is yours aching?" Naruto noted.

"No, it's just been so long since that bastard did this to me," Anko closed her eyes and clenched her teeth. Just then she felt arms wrap around her and looked down to see the blonde hugging her. "Thanks, Naruto-kun," she ruffled his hair, "So, I kinda trailed off from what I was gonna say. I heard that Jiraiya of the Sannin is gonna teach you summoning, but he's too late for that now."

The blonde's brow rose in curiousness and stared at the purple haired woman.

"_I'm_ gonna teach you to summon snakes! You know you've wanted to summon them for quite some time now. I already talked with Manda-sama and he needs to test you first."

The Jinchuuriki's eyes brightened up and pumped his fist in the air. "Are you serious?! THANK YOU ANKO-NEECHAN!!!!"

Anko laughed, "Well, let's get started, gaki," she said and bit her thumb, made the five required hand seals and slammed her hand on the ground. A puff of smoke took over the small riverside and from the smoke a snake the size of a normal human with a scar over his left eye. His scales were as black and brilliant as an onyx, his underbelly just as red as a ruby.

"Anko-sama, how may I be if service?" said the snake, his golden eyes glancing at the blonde beside her.

"Kayama-san, I have a worthy shinobi who would like to sign the Snake summoning scroll," Anko said, her voice dead serious.

The snake, now known as Kayama, looked at the blonde. He stuck his tongue out, picking up important details by the scent and chakra levels. The golden orbs stared at the blonde as it opened its mouth and a large scroll began slithering out. Finally, with a loud thud, it landed on the ground and opened to reveal only three names, but one of them was disturbing to the sight of both Anko and Naruto.

"Anko-sama, he's worthy of signing the scroll. But after signing this, he's obligated to try and summon Manda-sama or his contract with the snakes will be terminated."

"Thanks, Kayama-san," Anko turned to the blonde, "Naruto-kun, you have to sign with your blood and then you'll place the hand that you bled from beside your name. That hand will be the one used for summoning."

Naruto grinned widely and bit his right hand's finger tips. Below Anko's signature, who was the last to sign the contract, he began to write his name and then pressed his hand on the paper. The blood glowed for a moment and became engraved in the scroll.

"Naruto-sama, you have a time period of five days to summon Manda-sama starting now," Kayama bowed to both and ate the scroll. "Anko-sama, you better train him well," he addressed the purple-haired woman and disappeared in a small puff of smoke.

She grinned and turned to Naruto, "Well, gaki, you have quite some time to get the summoning down and gather the correct amount of chakra to summon Manda."

"Neechan, have you summoned Manda before? I mean, after the time you had to summon him for the contract, of course."

She looked at him and blinked, "Are you serious?" he nodded, "Well, yes, of course I have, why would I have the contract and not summon the boss once in a while. But of course, whenever you summon the boss, there's always a price to pay. For snakes, you have to pay them with live food, but Manda is very disturbing in his own way. He doesn't settle well unless he is given a large feeding ground with loads of animals or he's given humans from battles."

Naruto gawked, "Humans?"

"I know, that's why I try not to summon him. But I've heard, though, that the unknown person who signed the contract before me was weirdly respected by Manda. Some say that Manda didn't ask for a pay from the man and he was even treated well by the giant boss. I think it's just a load of bullshit because Manda is downright evil!"

He looked at her and sighed, "So, what are the hand seals for summoning?"

Anko chuckled, "Otouto, I would if I wanted, but since you've got a new sensei to train with for the Chuunin exams and he's gonna teach you to summon. What I'm trying to say with this is that I'm not gonna tell you them. Ask the Sannin tomorrow."

Naruto stared blankly at Anko, "You're so lazy sometimes, neechan. Well, I have to go eat, I'm starving!!!"

She laughed again, "You're always hungry. C'mon, my treat."

The winged blonde whooped and the snake lady groaned as both walked from the riverside. Anko didn't want to admit it, but Naruto was the closest thing to family than anything. She smiled inwardly and accompanied him to Ichiraku's.

---

Naruto walked slowly towards his apartment, his belly filled with 4 bowls of miso ramen. He dug through his coat's pockets until he found his keys and tiptoed up the building's stairs, trying not to make too much noise, but what awaited him made his day end horribly wrong.

The door was forced open, the walls were red with words reading 'Die, demon!', and the whole apartment was practically destroyed, looking like a field where a tornado has passed. He reached for the light switch to see it all with more clarity.

Sighing, he closed the door and looked in the piles of broken pieces for anything that might have survived. The only things that managed to receive less damage were the sofa, the bed and some parts of the kitchen. Opening the small supply closet, he reached for trash bags and turned to begin taking out everything.

---

Hiashi stared down at Hinata, since Neji had already told him about what he heard and what he saw going on between his daughter and Naruto.

"What is it, otousama?" Hinata said and a small voice.

"Neji told me about your relationship with Naruto-san. Is it true?" he said, his voice showed no emotion. His daughter nodded and he sighed. "Hinata, I know that you like him, but he isn't the best boy that you could have fallen for. The boy's nothing but trouble and he's dangerous."

The lavender-eyed girl narrowed her eyes, "You don't know him, Tousama! Naruto-kun is kind and cares for me, and he's very brave and strong! He's told me and showed me things that only very few people know about him."

The Hyuuga leader stood up and glared at Hinata. "You will not move from here, Hinata."

She flinched under his gaze and looked down as the door closed behind her father and glowed blue with a seal.

---

Hiashi appeared by a rundown building in a lonely street. "So the blonde lives here?"He walked up the stairs and found that the door looked damaged. Did that mean that he was constantly harassed? He reached for the doorknob and swiveled it, but the door opened without even pushing it. It seemed that the lock was busted. He walked inside and found the damaged walls with those words and in the "room" that was supposed to be a living room, there was nothing but trash bags filled with many broken pieces of furniture. Casting his sight aside from the apartment's conditions, he focused on the Uzumaki's chakra.

"Hiashi-sama, what are you doing in my apartment?" a voice said from what looked like a kitchen.

Hiashi stared at him and made his way towards the blonde. "Naruto-san, I need you to come with me."

Naruto blinked at him and turned off the small pot with what seemed like noodles and walked over to the Hyuuga.

Hiashi took his chance and made quick hand seals murmuring the jutsu's name "Shinkyou Dokusha no Jutsu." (Mind Reader Jutsu (?)) He quickly reached his hand towards the blonde's head before he could get away making the boy and Hiashi stood still, their eyes glazed over.

The Hyuuga appeared inside a sewer-like place with ankle deep water. He looked up in front of him and saw a winged Naruto lying unconscious in front of a great golden cage with a small piece of paper labeled 'Seal'.

**"****Impertinent Hyuuga, you dared to use that jutsu on my jailor?!" **Kyuubi roared.

**"_Hyuuga Hiashi, you shouldn't have done that."_**

Hiashi's eyes widened, "There's another entity sealed inside with the Kyuubi?" He gasped and jumped back a few feet as the water started bubbling with red chakra, forming the shape of Kyuubi's head, engulfing with it Naruto's body.

**"****You with those blind eyes, one that carries the weight of your arrogant and selfish clan don't know how much it had affected your eldest daughter."**

"You know nothing of my clan or my daughter!"

**"****Don't I? I have seen everything my jailor has, in fact, if it wasn't for the kit and me, Hinata would've died because of your nephew's attacks in the Preliminaries match."**

"That just shows how weak she is. I wasn't going to tell her this but, she won't be the Heiress of the clan, and Hanabi is better suited for the position."

A flash of light contrasted with the darkness of the mind scape and beside the Kyuubi's bubbling form appeared Hinata. She looked around frantically and when she saw where she was and who was there she froze.

"Otousama?!" she gasped, but her eyes gazed to her side only to stare at Kyuubi's angry red eyes and inside the bubbly mass was Naruto. "K-Kyuubi!"

**"****Don't be afraid, young Hinata, the kit is safe inside this makeshift 'body', please join him inside and listen to your father's corrupted words."**

Hinata shifted her eyes to her father and slowly walked towards Naruto, her body encased in the bubbly mass.

"Hinata, get away from those _monsters_ this instant!" he spat, his calm composure long gone.

Hinata's eyes shot at her father, filling with courage he had never seen from her, "No, _Otousama_, you're the monster! Naruto-kun has done nothing wrong to anybody, even if he didn't tell me about the Kyuubi, I already knew. It was so simple how his birthday and the supposed Kyuubi attack on Konoha were on the same date. And if you didn't know, Kyuubi-sama was the protector of Hi no Kuni. He was being controlled by someone."

**"I'm surprised you know more of your village's history than your father, yet he calls you weak when I see a strong-hearted ningen."**

"Remember when I said I wasn't the one who healed you, it was Kyuubi," the faint voice came from the awakening blonde.

"Naruto-kun, but how?" she said and placed a hand on his back to make the weight of his wings bearable since he was placing weight on them.

"My doujutsu, I used it to penetrate your nervous system and make a link in our minds so Kyuubi-sama could heal you."

"LIES! That blonde monster doesn't have a doujutsu. No one even knows who his parents were. They were probably nukenin and were killed leaving this monster as Konoha's tool for sealing the Kyuubi!" Hiashi stepped forward, "I shouldn't have hesitated, I should have killed this demon brat from the beginning," he began walking towards the Kyuubi's head, with his Byakugan activated and popped the substance. He could hear the Kyuubi's furious growls, but he couldn't do anything since he was sealed inside.

The fearful stares of Naruto and Hinata didn't mean anything to the man as he approached a sinister smile curled his lips.

**"**_**I'm sick of your words Hiashi! And you dare threaten your daughter and MY son!" **_

A flash of yellow stopped in front of Hinata and Naruto. Hiashi's eyes widened in fear and took a step back. The man in front of him wore a very familiar white cape, Jounin attire, and his long blonde hair kept out of his face by a Konoha hitai-ate. His cerulean eyes stared with as much anger as the Kyuubi, and ash wings spread defensively behind him.

**"**_**Hiashi…"**_ he growled.

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A/N: Holey shiz! Come on, ever since I placed the name 'Arashi' on this character you should know who it is! If you don't... seriously... tsktsktsk. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter as much as I did, and I wrote a lot more than I normally do, but I wanted to get to this on this chapter.

Thanks for reading, and for all your support... well, those who read, review and add to alerts! =D

- BloodKitsune11


	22. Chapter 22

I'M ALIVE!!!! *hallelujah!*

I hope I didn't make you all mad for delivering this chapter quite late. But I have my reasons! Well, I was almost done with this chapter a week ago, but this week I had long forgotten the story and went on my school's history trip.... we went to WASHINGTON D.C.!!! This trip was over 3 hours of flying from P.R. to the District of Columbia but I say this was the awesomest trip evar, cause I was with all my friends and we were visiting all kinds of museums and memorials... it was awesome! Well, I just got home today and finished writing to upload it.

I hope you enjoy!!

Disclaimer: **[Washington D.C.... I wanna go back there!!!]**

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Hiashi's eyes widened. "Minato… How, you sealed yourself in with this demon… and _him_?"

"_**I expected more from a man I trusted when I was Hokage, but you, you're also in on the Council's idea to execute my son?! You have totally betrayed my dying wish and my trust. If I could return to the outside you would be immediately placed under your own clan's Caged Bird Seal."**_

The Hyuuga's eyes hardened and his eyes diverted from the Namikaze's cold gaze, "I… I should've known… You're brainwashed by the demon's manipulative powers! I should close all your tenketsu and release you from that illusion!"

"_**You'll do nothing, Hyuuga! I am in my own mind, and Kyuubi-sama is not as you think."**_

Hiashi growled and reactivated his Byakugan. "Hakke Rokujuuyon Sho!" He charged at Minato, the palms of his hands glowing with powerful chakra.

The older blonde clenched his jaw and awaited the charging Hyuuga. As soon as he came close, he dodged the deadly palm strikes with unnatural speed and gripped the wrists of the Hyuuga, quickly placing a three-pronged kunai on his neck.

"_**If you think you're going to make any damage here, you're mistaken. Get away from my son, and your daughter… I wish you weren't so closed up in your ideals and see just how strong she is."**_ Before Hiashi could protest, Minato made a one handed seal and clapped his hand on the Hyuuga's back, making him disappear from Naruto's mind scape.

Hinata and Naruto gaped at the older blonde, while he turned to them. Naruto stood up and looked up at the Namikaze.

"Arashi-san… you're… my father? The Yondaime Hokage, my father?" he said dumbstruck.

Minato gave an ashamed smiled, and walked over to them. "_**Actually, my name's Namikaze Minato… And I'm sorry, Naruto-kun, for doing all of this to you, to your life…"**_ he paused and crouched down in front of both Genin.

Naruto hung his head and the only thing that was felt around him was his body shaking subtly. Hinata rubbed his arms to calm him down, and Minato looked away and frowned, feeling that maybe revealing this too soon was too overwhelming. Suddenly, he noticed the tight arms around him as Naruto glomped him. Turning to see the younger blonde, he noticed the tears staining his face and those particular whisker marks on his cheeks.

"I… was always thinking w-who my parents were," he paused in a hiccup, "But you were here all along! You were the voice th-that always praised me, calmed me down, and scolded me like a parent… I never would've figured it out…" he ended in a low voice, stifling a sob.

Minato hugged him fiercely, "_**I would never leave you alone. I was glad that even if it was talking through your mind, acting like your conscience, I was with you all the way. I hope you can forgive me for doing this to you."**_

Naruto's quiet response was muffled as his face rested on his father's chest, sounding roughly like "You don't need to apologize."

The older blonde smiled and ruffled his son's messy hair, looking at the colored strands that looked identical to his own. "_**I'm sure you might want to know why you don't have my last name,"**_ he pause and Naruto nodded, "_**You have your mother's… her name was Uzumaki Kushina,"**_ he chuckled as his mind's eye remembered those old days, "_**She was a one of a kind **__**woman, with a can-do-anything attitude and her tomboyish looks. It was quite funny how we met…"**_

---- Flashback no Jutsu! ----

Fifteen year old Minato was walking down the street and his mind was set to go do his usual routine after training real hard with Jiraiya and his toads. He turned towards a small stand, pushing aside the strands that made up the stand's name and sat on a stool. He looked to his side and another teen with a big orange jacket with a red spiral on its back and ankle long black shinobi pants. The teen had red hair tied up in a ponytail, creamy skin, and violet eyes that shone like gemstones.

The red-head looked at the blonde and smiled, "Hello!"

Minato glanced and smiled back, '_Looks like a "he", but sounds like a "she"…' _"Are you new here? I haven't seen you here before."

The teen chuckled, "Yeah, I'm new. I just moved here on my own so I'm really just looking around so then I can sign up for being a ninja for Konoha. Oh, where are my manners, the name's Uzumaki Kushina! I came from the Uzumaki no Kuni."

The blonde grinned further, a new friend to hang out! "My name's Namikaze Minato, nice to meet you Kushina-san. Hey, after we eat, why don't we hang out so I can show you around Konoha?"

He/she (as Minato dubbed Kushina for lack of evidence of gender) nodded and gave him a thumbs up. Just then, a much younger, Teuchi appeared with two large bowls of ramen.

"He-hey, Minato-san! How's training?" he greeted.

Minato started talking with the jolly man and after a few hours of talking and having a ramen eating competition with Kushina, they left the happy man and walked down the street aimlessly.

"So, Minato-san, you're a shinobi here. I bet you get to go on a lot of missions to save a lot of people or escorting…" said Kushina.

The blonde nodded as he kept walking in a slow pace, something about the red-head caught his attention, but he felt ashamed that he felt those types of feelings towards a guy he just met… a guy! He didn't show anything, but he couldn't let any suspicion surface, "Yeah, but I really want a break, maybe go to a hot spring or just meet a nice girl. How about you?"

Kushina glanced at him and blushed slightly, "Well, I don't know, I guess I've taken my time for training to become a very strong ninja. Of course, it would be nice to look for someone special enough to pass time with."

Minato was pensive, the guy or girl talked without an indication of gender, 'how troublesome' in the words of Nara Shikaku from his Rookie class.

"Minato… can I talk to you for a second?" the red-head said, the cheeks were emitting a subtle pinkish tone.

He blinked and stopped in front of Kushina.

"I… I wanted to let you know that… um…" Kushina looked around and saw no one and sensed no one either. "I don't have anywhere to stay with. Do you think I could crash at your place until I can find somewhere to stay?"

The Namikaze nodded, "Sure, I live alone so, yeah."

The next few weeks were filled with curiosity. The blonde and the red-head were starting to know each other a lot better, people could call them _the_ best friends. But there was something still odd about Kushina. The gender of that person was still a mystery to him and he was determined to find out.

Something crept around his waist and he looked down to see arms wrapped around him tightly. He turned his head to the side to see Kushina's face framed by the long hair, the facial features looking quite effeminate.

"Minato-san, there's something very important that I want to tell you… perhaps even show you."

He raised a golden brow and followed. Kushina stopped in a large place where people couldn't be sensed easily, meaning they were alone. He noticed that Kushina was fidgeting and blushing.

"Minato-kun, I love you. Ever since I met you, I felt this kind of attraction but I just couldn't tell you."

His eyes were like saucers, "Whoa! I'm sorry but I'm not into guys!"

Big mistake. Kushina's eyes widened and frowned. "I-I thought you knew…" The red-head took one of Minato's trembling hands and placed it on top of the thick jacket over her chest. "I-I know this is not th-the best way…" she blushed madly and diverted her stare.

"You're a girl… I… gosh, I feel stupid…" he looked up with red cheeks, but found he wasn't touching anything anymore, he could just see the running figure of Kushina.

---- Kai! End Flashback no Jutsu! ----

"You thought she was a boy?!" Naruto mused, thinking how she hid herself that much.

"_**Yeah, but after that we talked it out. And we began building our relationship and well… we got married, and had you."**_

"Are there any pictures of her?"

Minato shook his head sadly, "_**I don't know… but I don't know if our home still exists, though."**_

Naruto frowned and rested his head on Minato's chest, letting himself feel the warmth of his _real_ father.

Hinata felt she was in the way of this reunion so she gave a small smile to herself and shrunk in a corner.

The elder Namikaze rubbed the still younger blonde's back, taking in the details of his black feathered wings. "_**Naruto-kun, there's something I want to say to you but, it has to be tomorrow with Jiraiya-sensei."**_

Naruto jerked his head from the Namikaze's chest and even Hinata's eyes snapped open and she glided over to the older blonde. "Jiraiya-SENSEI?!!!" both shouted at the same time.

Minato sweat dropped and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Hinata smiled inwardly as she noticed that they both had similar ways of expressing themselves. "_**Well, uh, yeah. I was Jiraiya-sensei's student… the one he talked about today? Oh, Naruto, I'm surprised you chose the snake summoning contract rather than the toad one."**_

Now it was Naruto's turn to rub the back of his head, "It's just that all the time I spent with Anko-neechan might have made me lean towards the snake's contract. After all, I trained with her snakes too, and they all know me."

"_**I'm impressed that you trained with summons without even summoning them. I'm starting to think snakes are ok. If they fit you and help you that much, then, snakes it is,"**_ he smiled.

Naruto grinned, "Thanks… Tousan, for everything," he said and saw him smile just as bright, and warm as a father would, "I'll make sure I check out where _our_ home is and ask Jiji for permission to move there… I mean it's my right as the Namikaze heir, right?"

**"**_**Yup, I think Hiruzen would understand," **_he stood up to look at both Genin, "_**Well, I'm glad I got this chance to meet you Naruto-kun. And Hinata, I want to let you know that even if your father highly disapproves, I see nothing wrong with this. I give you my approval to be with Naruto, because I know that between both of you, there's a strength that can give you enough confidence to stand up to your fears. I guess this is it for now."**_

Naruto and Hinata hugged the man and he hugged back. They said their 'thank you's and were quickly out of their mind scape, separating as the distance of the real bodies became apparent.

Naruto woke up in his apartment, the door was still open, but the Hyuuga was nowhere to be seen. Smiling, he remembered that his father is still alive inside his seal and he approved of Hinata and him, which made him even happier. He closed the door and placed a chair to it so it could stay closed and made his way through the destroyed halls of his crappy apartment. He entered his bedroom, took off his coat, and jumped on the bed, falling asleep on contact with a smile on his face.

--- Hyuuga Compound ---

Hinata woke up with a blush adorning her cheeks and she looked around her. She was still locked inside her father's office. Outside was nobody, but the seal could prove troublesome. She used her Byakugan and read the seal carefully, it was a rather simple seal used in many of the Hyuuga's private places, which were also easy to break. Sending chakra carefully towards the seal, it began to unlock until it broke and she opened the door.

She scanned the compound for her father and noted he was right outside talking to his guards and some elders that were present. She sneaked through the window and checked for ANBU that were supposedly hidden, but there were none.

'_Alright, now's my chance.'_ She ran from her home unnoticed, so she thinks, she wouldn't know. She kept her Byakugan active so she could see where she was going in the dark night with no moon. Finally, she stepped on the streets and deactivated the doujutsu and looked back at the far away clan. Disgust was written on her eyes and her expression, but it quickly changed as she looked ahead and ran in direction to that one person she wanted to be with.

* * *

A/N: I know that it's short, but this time its short on purpose! Haha, I know it could've been better but I tried to place it all together after being away for a whole week. I've already started writing the next one, so it could help me refresh on my ideas on the chapters to come and to improve my vocabulary as well.

I hope you all had a great Spring Break, and a late-Happy Easter! The cherry blossoms were beautiful in D.C., so I enjoyed them while I was there. Anyway, good night/day and I write to ya next update!

JA NE! (I was watching 'Heroes' and heard Hiro saying this as good bye or something.)

- BloodKitsune11


	23. Chapter 23

I HAVE REVIVED FROM THE ASHES OF WRITER'S BLOCK! No, seriously, I have. Well, yeah, the long awaited update to this story was very late and was needed. I felt I abandoned you guys when I saw my file and I hadn't written much. I felt frustrated with myself, but then again, school being a bitch because, hey, it's the last few days of school!!! We had our Learn Aids this week and they were annoyingly easy. Currently there are about 8 more school days (not normal days, k?). So, that means Summer vacations are a week and a half away! It's gonna be awesome!

*ahem* Enough talk about my school life and such, here!!! THE LONG LOST CHAPTER 23!!!!

Disclaimer: **[Gonna be Senior next school year... it will be a weird contrast between my age and my height]**

* * *

The sun shone through the open windows and its rays interrupted the blonde's sleep. He sat up and looked at the window in confusion, he was sure he had closed the window before even Hiashi had come into his home. Suddenly, the smell of fresh food spread through his whole apartment and he followed it towards the kitchen. As soon as he stood by the small two chair table, he found Hinata had already set two plate of breakfast and was now watering the bloody rose.

"Hinata-chan?"

She froze as the sound of her name and turned around quickly, sighing in relief. "Naruto-kun, you scared me."

"What are you doing here? I thought you were at your home." Naruto asked, ruffling his hair.

Hinata shuffled her feet and looked aside, "I ran away from the compound," she mumbled.

Naruto ran over to her and shook her shoulders, "Why did you run away, Hina-chan?! They're gonna be after us!"

"I'm sorry, but… I really can't take all the hate they have inside the clan. I want to help restore our peace and mend the main branch with the other branch members, but they won't make anything happen except more boiling hatred!"

Naruto stared with a slight frown and sighed. "I guess you'll stay here, then."

Hinata smiled and sat in front of him on the table to eat breakfast. The silence of the kitchen was rather comfortable as the soft ticking of the clock in the bedroom rang through the apartment and the birds outside made the sweet melody. Breakfast finished well, as Naruto took both plates and Hinata stared at his naked winged back.

"**Kits aren't you supposed to be getting ready for Jiraiya-san's training?" **asked the Kyuubi to both Genin's minds.

Hinata jumped up, startled to hear the voice in her head, and Naruto turned to her as she held her head after bumping it on the wall.

"Hinata-chan, we should get ready for Ero-sennin's training," Naruto informed.

She nodded, "Kyuubi-san told me, too." She stood from the table and smiled while she left to dress up.

The blonde looked at her dumbly, but returned to whatever he was doing and left the dishes to dry up. He walked back to his bedroom and found Hinata looking out the open window to the people passing below. Not wanting to bother her, he walked slowly and grabbed his shirt and put it on.

"Hinata-chan…" he called to her, and she twitched her head to his voice. "We should be going."

She stood up and went to his side, they held hands, his hand grasping her delicate hand tightly as to not let her go, and walked out of the apartment. People scowled at them, some even went as far as spitting at the ground they walked on, not approving the Hyuuga's decision to be with the demon spawn.

A wooden clacking ran behind them and they stopped to look back. Jiraiya stood behind them, his nose buried in a notepad writing nonsense and a perverted giggle topped with rosy cheeks.

"Oh, please, don't mind me," he held his hands in front of him as the pair gave them glares.

"Ero-sennin, you should know better than to snoop around behind people!" Naruto yelled.

Jiraiya laughed and pocketed his writing material, '_This is definitely going to my new 'Icha Icha' volume.'_ "Haha, I was just messing with you. So, are you ready for another day at training?"

Both nodded and the man walked in front of them.

"Well, let's go back to the place we went yesterday so you can keep practicing the water walking exercise and if you can get it down before sunset, I'll teach you to summon."

Naruto's eyes sparkled. '_Finally!!!'_

They immediately were shunshined to the same place as the day before, both Genin slightly disoriented by the sudden teleportation.

"ERO-SENNIN, NEXT TIME YOU WANT TO USE SHUNSHIN, WARN US!!" yelled Naruto.

Jiraiya laughed at both. Naruto was ranting while sitting on the floor throwing rocks at the water, while Hinata, getting the worse end, vomited in the bushes nearby.

"Alright, start the water walking technique again and don't stop until you get it correctly!" Jiraiya instructed.

The Uzumaki and the Hyuuga took off the heavier clothing and had their lighter one's underneath to better perform the exercise. Jiraiya stood at the riverside and observed the Genin's moves. They were catching on quickly to the exercise which meant he should be preparing for the summoning exercise.

It was about midday when the Gama Sannin stopped their training and called them to the riverside.

"Well, you were very quick to latch on to the water walking and I was thinking that I could take the rest of this time to teach you summoning."

Naruto grinned and Hinata looked nervous. Jiraiya smiled and sat on a rock behind him.

"It's nothing hard now, Hinata I want you to try it first," Jiraiya looked at her.

The Hyuuga stared patiently and stood up, "But, Jiraiya-sama, I don't have a summoning contract."

"It doesn't matter because when you make the hand seals, it will reverse summon you to the Summoning World in a part specifically to the ones that will offer you their contract," he paused and earned a nod in affirmation from her, and continued, "Ok, ready? First you draw blood from your preferred hand and perform the following hand seals: boar, dog, bird, monkey, ram. To complete the summoning you slam your hand on a firm surface."

Hinata nodded and bit her right hand thumb. She concentrated a bit of chakra and made the quick hand seals. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" she called and slammed her hand on the soil in front of her. As soon as she touched the ground, she disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Naruto looked at Jiraiya, "What the hell happened to her?"

"Weren't you listening, gaki? She reverse summoned herself to the Summoning World to meet the Clan that will offer her their contract," he sighed, "So, now it's your turn, Naruto."

"I'll tell you right now that I already signed a contract," Naruto grinned.

Jiraiya raised a brow and looked on attentively. Naruto conjured the correct hand seals and applied a big amount of chakra. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" he yelled and a big poof of smoke took over the clearing.

Naruto looked on expecting to see the legendary Manda, but a snake as large as the one he fought in the Forest of Death appeared. It had olive green scales and a pale lilac belly, its eyes were colored a deep purple and were rimmed in deep black.

The snake looked around and then down to the blonde in front of it, "I believe you are Uzumaki Naruto?" said a peculiar feminine voice.

The blonde nodded, "Yep, that's me!"

"Yes, I see you're training to summon Manda-sama for a permanent contract. You're getting closer, Naruto-sama. I'll look forward for helping you in the near future."

"Thanks, um… what's your name? I guess I haven't seen you being summoned by Anko-neechan," Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself," she snickered, "My name is Hayai and as my name suggests, and I am one of the swiftest of the snakes."

"Well, nice to meet you Hayai and I guess I'll see you some other time."

Hayai bowed her head and dispelled herself.

Jiraiya tried to hide his frown as the smoke began dissipating. "So Naruto, you signed the snake contract?" He didn't sound very happy.

The blonde Uzumaki looked at the Sannin and nodded, "Yeah is there anything wrong with having this summoning? Beside Hebi-teme having it, I don't see the problem."

"Well, part of it is that, but I thought that you would've waited for today because I wanted you to sign the Toad summoning contract."

"I already talked about this with Tou- Arashi-san!" he gave a fake laugh, but he knew Jiraiya wasn't buying it.

"_**Naruto-kun, call him into your mind scape. Remember how?" **_Minato told his son.

Jiraiya sat on the rock with a face full of disappointment. Hearing footsteps toward him, he lifted his head and saw Naruto had already dressed up. "Where do you think you're going, gaki?"

Naruto said nothing as his eyes turned deep red and a single bloody teardrop fell from an eye. Jiraiya's eyes widened as he realized which doujutsu was this, but he was released from his stupor as he saw the blonde swipe the blood on his thumbs and placed them on his temples. Suddenly, his sight seemed to vanish as he slumped backwards towards the rocky soil and Naruto closed his eyes as he met the same fate and fell sideways.

---- Naruto's mind scape ----

Jiraiya woke up in the halls of a dark sewer-like corridor where dark musky water was only ankle deep. He saw no light source but it all seemed to be lit. Looking around he wondered where he was and how did he get there? And where was Naruto?

A few footsteps came his way and saw the blonde walk over to him, but he didn't look dressed as he had last seen him.

"Come this way, Ero-sennin," Naruto said and waited for the long haired man to follow.

Jiraiya stared at the back of the blonde, still very confused about the sudden change of his eyes, knowing he had seen them only one time and from a very close person. "Naruto-kun, that doujutsu, the Shichigan, I've only seen it once…"

Naruto looked over his shoulder at the Sannin and smiled, "I activated it a few months ago while in a mission. From what I know, it's from my mother's clan… the Uzumaki."

His eyes widened, "You know of your mother?! You weren't supposed to know until you were of age," he crossed his arms and gave a serious stare at his back.

The winged blonde chuckled and stopped in front of twin large doors rimmed in gold and red random strikes. He opened them and the atmosphere around them became dense in powerful demonic aura that emanated from beyond.

Jiraiya followed hastily as Naruto walked inside and didn't appear to be affected by the sudden change. His eyes drifted to the gigantic golden gates that crossed the width of the immense room and the only thing keeping it closed was a small paper labeled 'Seal'. He froze in place, knowing immediately what it was keeping in.

"Naruto, keep away from the gates!" he called after the kid, but he didn't listen until he was gripping two large bars and peered in.

"_**Kyuubi-sama, before you say anything, I just want to talk to him and I don't want your interruptions," **_said a voice that sounded familiar to Jiraiya's ears. "_**Hello, Naruto-kun."**_

The Sage looked on curiously as Naruto perked at the mention of his name by the unknown voice.

"Hello, Tousan!" Naruto greeted the voice as a hand came out of the darkness of the cage and ruffled his hair.

Jiraiya eyes widened as he marked the voice as 'father'. '_No, it can't be… he died!'_

Naruto looked behind him towards the white haired man and smiled, "Tousan, I brought him like you asked me yesterday."

"_**Thank you, Naruto-kun."**_ The hand now gripped one of the golden bars as a foot passed the barrier and a shoulder with a familiar sleeve was shown, and finally the other foot passed and the figure came out, his appearance stunning the Gama Sannin.

"Mi-Minato-kun?!" Jiraiya managed to gasp out.

The older blonde gave his trademark grin and placed his left hand on his son's shoulder. "_**Jiraiya-sensei, it's been 12 years, if I'm not mistaken." **_Seeing as he wasn't going to respond as he was still recovering from the shock, he walked over to him.

"How are you sealed inside Naruto-kun? Didn't your soul get eaten by the Shinigami?" Jiraiya questioned.

"_**Only a portion was taken away, but since I also sealed part of my soul inside the seal, I've been recovering my soul little by little and, well, I'm now completely recovered."**_

"So, you're basically saying, you sealed yourself away from your body and into your son's with the Kyuubi?"

Minato nodded, "_**Yes, but having two entities inside one body plus the soul of the host will eventually have its consequences. I'm going to request to you and Naruto-kun to find my body, as I know that the Hokage's bodies are always placed in a special grave were the body is preserved."**_

"Your body? Minato-kun, are you saying that you want to be unsealed into your body? How will that work?"

"_**It's quite simple actually. Since I'm only a soul, I can sense where my body is. Even though I can extract myself from the seal and merge again into my body, it would be riskier than to have someone else making sure the unsealing and merging goes well."**_

Jiraiya sighed, "It's gonna be hard to find your body, Minato-kun… Since we know you had many enemies, it was at the request of Sarutobi to have himself and two ANBU to bury you somewhere safe that no one else knew."

"_**You don't know where my body is then?"**_

The Sannin shook his head and frowned, "I tried many times to persuade Hiruzen-sensei to tell me where but I hadn't succeeded and he's a hard nut to crack."

Minato's shoulders slumped and he looked down, "_**Well then, Naruto-kun,"**_ he looked towards his son that stood beside both older men, "_**I guess it's up to you to find my body."**_

Naruto's eyes sparkled and he grinned. "You can count on me, Tousan! But… how do I find it?"

The Namikaze chuckled and linked his blue eyes with his son's, "_**I'll tell you whenever I feel it close, okay?"**_

The younger blonde gave _his_ trademark gin and thumbs up, "I'll do it!"

Jiraiya and Minato laughed. "He's got Kushina-chan's spirit, that's for sure, Minato-kun," the white haired man said.

"_**He sure does. Well, Jiraiya-sensei, expect me to be around sooner or later, hopefully."**_

Jiraiya wrapped his arms around his student tightly, "I will."

Minato pat his back and both stared at each other, "_**I guess I'll see you later."**_

Naruto took that as a cue and placed his hands in the Tiger seal and cut the mental link.

* * *

A/N: I reread this chapter and I wasn't completely satisfied by how it's laid out but I am quite sated by its length. I wanted to point out that I didn't know exactly how to write Naruto's expressions at the beginning, so I'm sorry if he sounded cold.

Anyway, how are you liking where I'm headed here? If so, I'm guessing its quite original... is it?... I really haven't read any body hunting in fanfics and here it ended!!! Hopefully from now on, it will be better to write and still don't expect much from my fighting scenes in the upcoming Chuunin exams' Final matches. (*whispering* I suck.)

Thank you all for reading and for waiting for the late update. Please review and write to you all in the next chappie!!

- BloodKitsune11


	24. Chapter 24

OMIGAWSH DON'T KILL MEEE! *covers face with arms*

I swear I didn't mean to stall but my last weeks were filled with blockage brigade that didn't let my muse flow through my hands onto the computer. I'm utterly sorry! For this update I tried making a two chapter release for your uber wait, but... I freaked when I saw that I had gone too long without updating and I am almost halfway through the next chapter. Dx

So, without making you wait anymore for my long unofficial hiatus, here you have chapter 24! I'm surprised that between last chap and this one I have 113 pages in word with the font _'Berlin Sans'_ in size 12 with a spacing on 1.0...

Anywho... disclaimer: **[I blame myself for being so lazy -_-"**

* * *

Jiraiya and Naruto reanimated after being expelled from the blonde's mind scape. They look around themselves to notice they were placed against a log under the shade of the large trees, in front of them Hinata was waiting for them to wake up.

"You didn't wait too much for me, right Jiraiya-sensei?" she asked as she eyed both males.

The white haired sage shook his head and stood up, "Nah, we were just resting up. So, to which summon were you taken to?"

Hinata smiled, "I got placed in the territory of the Serval Summons. The boss summon greeted me at their village's gates. I'm quite happy I got them."

Jiraiya grinned widely, looks like he was going to teach them so much more than basics if they're going to train with summons and to better their fighting skills to match with their summons as well. This surely was going to be a fun filled month.

- One month later: Chuunin Exam Finals morning -

Naruto woke up at 3am from his anxiety for the Finals, meaning that his match with Neji Hyuuga was so close that he could taste it. He shook from his thoughts as he looked across the room at the sofa bed where Hinata was sleeping silently. The whole month of her company, they had gotten even closer, knowing almost everything of what everybody else doesn't know about them.

Still, they couldn't bring themselves to sleep in the same bed thinking that they were still too young to share a bed, but not too young to sleep under the same roof. They also trained with the Toad Sannin Jiraiya for the whole month so Naruto could stand a chance against the arrogant Hyuuga.

So there he was, staring outside to the dim streets where only the lampposts kept the sidewalks slightly lit. He looked back inside and stared at the small white jar on the table beside the rose he conjured with his doujutsu. Inside the jar was an ointment created by some of the flower's petals and with Hinata's expertise in creating all sorts of healing aids, they created a special ointment that could heal cuts twice as fast as a normal ointment.

"_**Naruto-kun, you can't sleep, huh?"**_ asked Minato.

/ Nope, I guess I'm kinda excited cause today it's the Chuunin Finals and I can't fail this. /

"_**Even if you fail and don't become Chuunin, I would still be proud of you, son."**_

Naruto smiled, it felt nice to have someone actually care, even if he was still in his seal. Then his face became pensive, through everything that has been done through the whole month and even when "insolent white haired ningen" appeared in his mind scape for the first time, Kyuubi hasn't said a word and his father is worried that he may be plotting something in his evil demon mind. It feels as if he's gathering his youki for something, but what could it be?

The winged blonde sighed and looked at his reflection on the crystal windows. '_I feel as if something important will happen today. Could this be the day I'm forced to show them my appendages or even my doujutsu?'_

He looked downcast and looked away from his reflection. He laid his body carefully onto his back against the mattress and looked up at the ceiling to count its cracks. Slowly, he closed his eyes as sleep overtook him.

- **5a.m.** -

The noisy alarm clock beeped his unforgiving wake up call into the trained ears of the Uzumaki and the female Hyuuga sleeping in the small apartment. They groaned as they woke up, only for them to see as the gadget flew across the room and crashed onto the kitchen wall, instantly dying.

Naruto dragged his feet to the bathroom as Hinata made breakfast. Taking a quick bath and watching his hygiene, he walked into the small kitchen where the indigo haired girl stood.

"Aren't you excited, Naruto-kun?" she said and sat across from him on the table, breakfast already served.

"I really am, though I'm kinda nervous about it, but I'm guessing it's the anxiety," he said after gulping down his food, smiling in contentment.

"I know you'll put up a good match against my cousin, maybe you'll even get to beat him."

Naruto chuckled at that and his eyes glowed with determination, "Oh, I will beat him, I made a promise and I never go back on my word."

Now it was her turn to chuckle, "Of course you won't. I only worry if you will get hurt."

"No need to worry, Hinata-chan."

They glanced at each other in a comfortable silence and Naruto stood up, and walked to the bedroom and changed into his customary battle clothing.

A few minutes later after Hinata changed into her new clothing, chosen by Naruto and herself after going shopping for a new look. It consisted of dark blue shinobi pants, bandaged at the bottom to her ankles, black shinobi sandals, a lavender hakamashita that was kept in place by a dark blue belt on her waist, a fishnet undershirt, and gray metal bracelets on her wrists. She laid eyes on her clothing and smiled, it was lighter but it was actually made by a strong material which was very resistant.

They walked down the street towards the coliseum where the Chuunin Finals are going to be held. Many eyed the new clothing of the Hyuuga traitor and would turn away from the couple. A few minutes of walking through the festive streets of that part of the village, they stepped in front of the coliseum, listening as the people cheered inside. Walking up towards the entrance, they found Jiraiya had waited for them, just as he said in their last training session. The old man smiled and straightened to look at them.

"Glad you could make it, Naruto-kun, Hinata-chan," he said in a proud voice, "I understand that you," he pointed at Naruto, "need to get in there, so hurry up now, I don't want you to be late. And Hinata, you'll come with me so if your father gets any ideas, he'll have to go through me first and I doubt he wants problems with a Sannin."

Naruto smiled and bowed, "Hai, Ero… Jiraiya-sensei," he gave a foxy grin.

"Good luck," the Sage chuckled as he saw the blonde run in towards the participants' area. Turning back, he looked down at Hinata, "Let's go so we can cheer him on!"

Hinata nodded eagerly and followed the Gama Sannin into the seating areas. Looking around, they quickly spotted the Hyuugas. So to avoid conflict, they looked for seats in the opposite side. They found seats where the other Rookies were, and called to them so they can sit together. Jiraiya agreed and sat beside the Genins, not noticing some villagers stare in awe as the Sannin was back in Konoha, while the Rookies were rather impressed by Hinata's change of clothing.

Naruto walked inside the participant's box that stood just a little lower than the crowd stands, meaning more horizontal view of the arena they were going to fight in. Shikamaru and Shino approached him, while the Sand siblings stood together, and Neji stood away from all, but neither Sasuke nor Dosu were there yet.

"Shikamaru, Shino, I thought that by now Sasuke would be here already?" the blonde asked.

The Nara crossed his arms, "That's what we were going to ask you."

Shino nodded, "I'm sure you might have an idea why, being his teammate and all."

Naruto sighed, "It must be because of Kakashi-sensei. He's always late."

They stood in silence, hearing the crowd cheering for the start of the Finals. The Kages were seated over the participant's box and it was then that Hiruzen stood up to face the inmense crowd.

"In this beautiful day, it's my honor to welcome the Kazekage to Konoha as we represent the strong bonds with our villages. It's also an honor to present today's Chuunin Exam finals where the strongest surpassed the previous tests a month ago. Without further ado, I hereby start the Chuunin Exams!"

The crowd cheered loudly as some held up banners for which village they were rooting for or even which of the participating Genin they rooted for.

A Tokubetsu Jounin appeared beside Sarutobi, he had brown hair covered with his hitai-ate tied as a bandanna but backwards, and the normal attire of a Jounin. The most peculiar thing about him, and which always seemed to be his trademark, was the senbon on his mouth.

"Hokage-sama," he bowed.

Hiruzen looked at them man and simply nodded and he disappeared in a poof of smoke.

The Jounin appeared in the field and stared at the participant's box. "All the Genin who passed the preliminaries, come down for the revision of the scheduled matches."

All of the present Genin jumped down in front of the brunette as he took out a large tournament map.

"Alright, there has been only a minor change in the tournament. As you have noticed in the map, one of the participants is no longer part of this as he was found dead while in the one month training recess. So, instead, we shortened the tournament to just you eight."

Shikamaru looked at the man, "Where's the other proctor Hayate?"

The Jounin looked away at the mention of the name, "It's not really in my power to mention why, but I will be replacing Hayate as proctor. My name is Genma and I'll be enforcing the rules for this part of your exams. There will be no killing in this arena, and you'll fight until I determine if you cannot fight on or unless you decide to forfeit. Unlike the preliminaries, here there will be judges who will analyze you as they want and measure your capabilities as Chuunin," he made a pause and passed his eyes over the Chunnin-to-be, "Alright, the Genin for the first match will stay here and take positions while the rest go back in the box."

Naruto and Neji stayed in the field and took to their positions. Genma looked at both and then looked at the crowd.

"First match: Uzumaki Naruto versus Hyuuga Neji. Hajime!"

Neji activated his Byakugan and glared the blonde and they circled around each other, looking for the perfect moment to strike.

"Fate has brought us for this match and as it predicts, the one with the most power will prevail and the one who's so accustomed to lose will fall once again. I will make sure you keep being the loser you always were and will be," Neji narrows his eyes as he scans his opponents for any weak points to start with.

Naruto as mad as he was with the Hyuuga didn't respond back and analyzed his moves, just as Jiraiya taught him to do, because even if being straightforward had its ups it also had its downs and he couldn't risk going down on his word.

The crowd was silent as their attention was taken by their stare down, some already wanting for them to make a first strike and start the match already.

With the Rookies, Sakura and Ino were wondering where Sasuke was while the others were watching them. Some stated that Naruto would lose, some that Naruto would win. But what surprised the people around them the most was that the legendary Gama Sennin Jiraiya was most certain that Naruto could overthrow the arrogant Hyuuga. When they asked Hinata for who is she rooting, she merely replied with a 'Naruto-kun is going to win. He promised and he's gotten stronger.'

Many were amazed by her change of personality. She appeared more confident and seemed stronger too. Kiba, mostly, was ogling over her, trying to get her to go out with him, but she'd stop him at every turn. Akamaru finally stopped his tries and told him she was out of his limits, which made him frown but he stopped nonetheless.

Finally, Neji spotted an opening within Naruto's movements and quickly charged at the blonde. Naruto swiftly changed his stance and engaged the Hyuuga in a taijutsu match as best as he could. Knowing it wasn't his strong point yet he could manage to land some hits, even if they were blocked by the Gentle Fist user's fast movements.

"You're in the path of my divination," said the Hyuuga, "Hakke Rokujuuyon Shou!"

Neji charged quickly and began to count his palm strikes. Naruto knowing that this meant closing all his tenketsu, he managed to shunshin just after he got to 32 palms. He panted as the Hyuuga quickly turned around and looked at him. He growled in annoyance as the blonde opened his tenketsu once again.

"I'll make sure I close all your tenketsu next time!" he said and charged once again.

Naruto was losing chakra quickly if he was going to keep his tenkestu open just as Neji closed them. He was also getting, surprisingly, tired of having to dodge many palm strikes that hit his tenketsu accurately. Dodging at last minute, he crouched and made a leg swipe, making the Hyuuga jump away from him.

The pale-eyed boy narrowed his eyes and stared at oddly placed tenketsu on Naruto's back. Deciding to act quickly before the blonde recovered completely, he charge and began to hit the tenketsu on his back in hopes that these were weak points and finally give him the winning strike. His palms hit the back, but instead of having contact with a normal bone structure, he felt large weird appendages that didn't seem quite human and seemed to have a bumpy feel.

Naruto winced and felt as his wings fell heavily on his back, never would he have thought that the wings could ever be that heavy, but no chakra flowed through them and felt numb, too.

The Hyuuga jumped back and stared at the blonde as he seemed to be having some difficulty with that on his back. "I don't know what you're hiding, Uzumaki, but rest assured, you won't be using them… whatever they are."

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A/N: AAAH! My first good-ish cliffy! I hope you like this chapter and I promise... PROMISE... **PROMISE!** that I will get the next chapter as soon as I finish it and spell check it on Word and OpenOffice.

I was a little disappointed in the little reviews but I don't really expect to have a whole flood in my email either. I guess I need to get motivation by the need to write! Also, I got a notebook to scribble down ideas for this fanfic. I'm hoping that it helps me guide what I want better than following a timeline set in my mind.

Well, I hope to get the other one sooner than later. Hope you all have a nice Summer! Enjoy the sun and the heat as opposed to the freezing Winter! =D

Natsuomedetou! NYAPPY!

- BloodKitsune11


	25. Chapter 25

Well, since I couldn't come through with a two chapter update last time because of the big absence I made myself write the rest of this chapter and I was quite impressed with myself that the rest came quickly. I hope you guys like it. So, on to chapter 25!

Disclaimer: **[I'm sorry for the wait -_-"**

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Naruto glared at the Hyuuga, he will have to force himself to be better, with some quick thinking, he made up a pretty good strategy, but it somehow needed of the Kyuubi's youki since his was almost depleted from the constant blockage of the tenketsu, so in order to grasp the youki, he needed to deplete the last of his chakra. He grimaced, but ran at the already charging Hyuuga. They met, canceled punches with palm strikes, but Neji being a bit faster thought he was going to get the upper hand as he started closing tenketsu all through the blonde's body.

The Uzumaki winced, but he knew it was part of his strategy and he needed to get to Kyuubi's. Striking back with rather sluggish movements because of the numb limbs, he aimed at the Hyuuga's face, which he dodged and lashed at his stomach. He grinned as the palm closed the last useful tenketsu, looking up at Neji as he jumped back into his stance. He flooded the tenketsu with Kyuubi's youki which stood like foxfire around the blonde. Part one of his strategy: done.

"Come on, Hyuuga!" he called out and charged at him.

Neji's eyes widened slightly. '_That red chakra, it seemed to make him faster and possibly tougher. I can't risk that.'_

The Hyuuga quickly undid the weights on his ankles, hidden by the sandals, and took a kunai from his leg pouch. He aimed to cut a deep wound on his back, where the hidden appendages lay. He knew that the blonde wasn't expecting his faster movements, even with the red chakra surrounding him, and sliced through his coat, making a large gash.

Naruto's eyes widened as he saw Neji's movements blur as he took off some weights that were perfectly hidden on his ankles. Suddenly a sharp pain came from the strike on his wings, he was sure that the muscles that produced flight were the ones that were deeply damaged. He looked at the ground and saw his blood dripping on the dirt at his feet. His eyes quickly shifted towards Neji, making said boy flinch visibly at the menacing stare. They took a red hue and his pupils became slits.

Neji shook his emotions away, and repeated that the dead-last will remain a dead-last in his mind. Somehow, his eyes focused on the blonde's back as black sharp feather-like spike poked out of the gash of the coat. He focused then on the blonde, and was about to charge when he saw him take off the coat. His eyes widened in awe, stopping right on his tracks.

The winged blonde threw the coat on the soil and glared at the Hyuuga. "I got you now!" he murmured. He charged with incredible speed and made a quick punching motion, "Sen'eijashu!" Snakes shot out of his hands and got a hold of Neji's hands and feet, leaving him defenseless.

The Hyuuga stared as Naruto began gathering chakra on his hands in a similar way a Byakugan user would to clog tenketsu points. His hands blocked tenketsu points with exact precision and stopping the Hyuuga's chakra. For Naruto, it seemed learning the exact placement of the tenketsu from Hinata paid off and it seemed to be doing the trick. Part two and three of his strategy: done!

Finally, only one thing left to do to take down the arrogant Hyuuga. He gathered chakra at his eyes and the red tint got darker, resembling blood. Slowly, a red stained tear trickled down the blonde's cheek and he took it, placed it at the Hyuuga's temples, and injected chakra in the blood to trigger some nerves and make the boy fall unconscious.

The snakes disappeared and Genma looked with wide eyes. Shaking his head he saw the Hyuuga wouldn't move anymore and declared Naruto the winner.

The blonde breathed heavily as the youki dissipated. He took his coat and made a quick hand seal and shunshined towards the participants' box. The Genin stared in silence as he appeared before them with his back exposed. Sitting down on a bench, he gripped the edges as he felt his wound heal slowly. No one but him noticed as Hinata stepped inside.

"Naruto-kun, that wound doesn't look that good," she said as she ran towards him, startling the others.

He looked back at her with a grin on his face, "It's not that bad, Hinata-chan."

She frowned and took out a small jar from her hip pouch, "Let me help," she took of the cap and took some of the red tinted cream and rubbed it on the wounded wings. She felt him tense as a hiss escaped his lips, but she kept rubbing it in.

Meanwhile, the crowds jeered as they weren't getting the match they all waited for. Genma had an annoyed expression cast on his face and he sought the Hokage's options for this match. Appearing next to Sarutobi, he queried for the match to be either postponed or for the Uchiha to be disqualified. But what he didn't expect was for the Kazekage to ask for the match to be postponed saying that he wanted to see his son's match and was also interested in watching the 'last Uchiha' fight.

Genma felt unsettled by the man, but kept a calm exterior and looked at the Hokage for approval of the decision, who nodded. Making a quick shunshin to the arena, he asked for the crowd to be silent.

"Due to a decision made with the Hokage and Kazekage, the match between Sabaku no Gaara and Uchiha Sasuke will be postponed to the end of the first round to give him time to arrive. This means that the other two matches will continue as normally planned," he cleared his throat and scanned the crowds, "Second match of the first round: Aburame Shino versus Sabaku no Kankuro."

Shino, even if he didn't show it, was eager to fight, wanting to show how much stronger he has gotten since the Preliminaries. He was about to jump down towards the arena when he heard the next words come out of his opponent's mouth.

"I forfeit," called out the puppet user to Genma.

The bug user scowled under his concealing coat and glared at the older boy under his dark glasses. He will make him fight with him later, he wasn't going to let him just slip away by forfeit.

The brunette proctor raised a brow at the Suna shinobi and sighed, already hearing the jeers from the irritating crowd, "Aburame Shino is winner by default," he peered suspiciously at the Suna trio wondering why they only seemed to observe their surroundings, but he shook the thought aside, he had to call the next match. "Ok, third match: Sabaku no Temari versus Nara Shikamaru."

Up in the balcony, an eager blonde kunoichi grinned at the ponytailed boy and glided down to the arena. Shikamaru sighed loudly muttering his favorite word.

"Come on, Shikamaru, give it all you got!" Naruto cheered while still being healed by the medicine.

He glanced at the blonde and the Hyuuga beside him, and sighed. "I guess it's now or never, right?" he said, looking the enlarging grin on Naruto's face and looked down at the awaiting opponent. "What a drag," he muttered before jumping down lazily and stood across Temari.

"Ready?" Genma glanced at both, "Hajime!"

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes and lowered to the typical Nara stance and his mind began conjure many scenarios on how the fight might run along. Readying his first move he placed his hands in the familiar Rat seal and his shadow started racing towards the Suna kunoichi.

The pigtailed blonde jumped back at the advancing shadow, knowing from the Preliminaries a month ago that if caught, it would immobilize her and leave her movements to his will. Her eyes widened in amusement when the shadow froze a yard in front of her and dug a line with the edge of her fan where the shadow couldn't reach her.

"So that's about it for your little technique, gaki. It won't work beyond this point, huh?" she grinned evilly at him.

He frowned and his shadow reverted to its normal appearance. His eyes glanced to the trees that surrounded most of the arena, and smirked.

Growing impatient, Temari glared at the brunette, "Well, if you're not going to attack, I will!" She opened one purple moon of her fan and swung it hard creating powerful winds that pushed Shikamaru back, loosening his feet's grip.

The Nara struggled to stay put and quickly came up with a plan suitable for the conditions. Reaching into his pocket, he took out two purple orbs and threw them in front of both, exploding in a thick cloud of smoke with particles of dirt from the ground. Temari coughed as he kept a vigilant eye out, her forearm placed in front of her eyes to prevent any dirt from invading her eyesight.

On the other hand, Shikamaru used the smoke to his advantage and created a small mass of 4 Bunshins as depicted from his mental master plan. One would portray him and the other three will resemble kunai while he prepared, hiding on the trees behind him. The smoke cleared quickly from a swing of the kunoichi's fan and she saw the ponytailed boy armed with kunai on both hands.

"So you wanna try to use those useless weapons against me, huh?" she smirked.

The Bunshin kept silent and began throwing a barrage of kunai and shuriken at her, which harmlessly littered around her with a swing of her fan.

"You're too lazy, but maybe I should keep playing a little more with you," she opened up the second purple moon of her fan and swung. This time, it wasn't that simple of a wind, instead they were winds that were sharp enough to cause damage and cut his Bunshin, making it poof out of existence.

She growled, looks like the little fool wasn't the one fighting her. Scanning her surroundings she saw movement behind shadow of the trees. "Scared, aren't you? Hiding under the trees won't be much of a difference!" she swung the fan again, the winds slashing at the trunk of the trees. "Come out, you runt!"

Shikamaru growled and looked from his cover, the blonde was standing at 5 'o clock from him in the middle of the arena. If he should switch with one of the embedded kunai henged Bunshin on the wall, he would be closer but she would detect him and move away. He might need to make a distraction first. Making a quick Bunshin, he made it walk outside and face her.

"Finally coming out of hiding?" she yelled.

"Meh, how about we finish this troublesome match quickly?" the Bunshin asked, walking around the edges of the arena, making her follow his movements with her body, thus facing away from his current place.

"If you wish baka!" she took her fan out, taking he wanted to lose quickly to her superior strength, and uncovered the third purple moon. "You asked for it!" she conjured quick and stronger winds that managed to cut some of the narrower trees and strip them bare.

The Bunshin covered his face and managed to hold on long enough, "My turn," he said and began running swiftly at her, making her jump back to avoid close combat. He grinned and made the Rat hand seal, his 'shadow' stretching from his feet towards her.

She jumped away from the shadow and stopped as it reached its limit. "Once again, pineapple head, you will never get me with that technique!" Her smirk faltered when she saw the Konoha shinobi disappear in a small poof and a voice reached her ears, making her widen her eyes.

"Kagemane no Jutsu, success," said the original brunette as he stood up from his crouching position behind her.

"How?" she asked, "How did you catch me in your jutsu?"

He shook his head, "Troublesome, the only thing you missed to notice was that I didn't make only one Bunshin while the smoke bomb cleared, I made 3 others which were henged into kunai. When you waved them away with your winds I watched each of the Bunshin to know exactly what my next moves would be. So, when the first Bunshin was destroyed, I fooled you into thinking that the other Bunshin was me so when he kept you busy trying to engage in close combat which you dodged, as I expected, I used Kawarimi with one of the earlier kunai Bunshin closest to you and I prepared my jutsu."

Temari grimaced, she was played a fool the whole match, fighting only Bunshins instead of the kid, "Hurry up and finish me if you have me in your jutsu."

He kept silent and raised a hand, making her raise hers too. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see herself lose just like that. But she jerked her head at him when she heard him say those words.

"What did you say?" she asked, wanting to be sure.

"I said, I forfeit," he sighed, "I could've gone on and finished this match and go on with the other plans I had for my other match but I guessed that since I don't have much chakra left, it would be to troublesome to continue."

Genma raised a brow at his declaration, 'He had already made plans for the next round and yet there he was forfeiting because he doesn't have much chakra left? This kid's quite smarter than I thought.' He grinned and faced the crowd, "Sabaku no Temari is the winner by default."

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A/N: I did say that I was going to upload as soon as I reread and spell checked.

So, I hope you liked what I did and for those who didn't like the conclusion of Naruto vs Neji's match, well... Its a plan I have and hopefully it won't be a disappointment. Even so, I did have to think up of a way to still show Shikamaru's intellect, I hope I succeeded.

The next update will depend on the time we'll have to make things for Art Camp. It's probable that it could be done by the end of June.

Have a nice Summer everyone!

- BloodKitsune11


	26. Chapter 26

I'm so sorry you had to wait a whole month for this update. All I can do is accept that, yes, I have been lazy, but every day I _**DID**_ pop this up and try to write. I start writing but reading it again, it didn't seem to fit well with what's on my mind. So it was a constant fight with writing and deleting until I took my time today and didn't let myself get angry with it. And this is the result from my no-anger-day. Chapter 26. I hope its good enough for the long ass wait. Enjoy! =]

SHOUT OUT TO THE ANONYMOUS REVIEWER: M4 SHERMAN! Thanks for the lovely review and I appreciate it... Sorry for the late update, too. xD

Disclaimer: **[Are you all liking the recent mangas as much as I am? =D**

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Up in the balcony, Naruto could feel the eyes of many from the crowds, yet many carried the weight of hatred. He shuddered as the hatred actually seemed stronger than any he had ever felt in a long time. By his side, Hinata sat closely, surveying his healing rate and also enjoying the close view of the matches.

Across Naruto, Shino watched silently, thinking about both Naruto's wings, which actually made him lower his sunglasses a bit to take a good look, and about the match that was supposed to take place with the Sand nin who forfeited, which irked him.

Shikamaru and Temari walked up to the balcony where they each went their way as they reached the place. The lazy Rookie walked over to Naruto and Hinata while the Sand mistress went over to her siblings.

"Shikamaru, you lazy bum, you forfeited because you didn't want to finish a fight against a girl?" teased the whiskered blonde.

The Nara tsked and looked at him with an indifferent expression, but deep inside his mind, he was intrigued in his classmate's fighting style and what seemed to be quite the trump card. "You're such a troublesome guy, Naruto. I should've expected you to have something like this up your sleeve. After all, you _are_ the Number One Most Unpredictable Shinobi of Konoha," he dodged the question and took a quick glance at Hinata.

The Uzumaki rubbed the back of his head and grinned, "Well, I guess you could call these a Kekkei Genkai and loads of training do you well."

The brunette crossed his arms and looked at him, "Whatever they are they look too troublesome to have around every day," he paused and looked at his now bloodless cheeks, "I'm quite curious of your eyes, what exactly is that doujutsu, if it even is one?"

"I actually got them quite randomly. They're called Shichigan and its uses vary making it a very handy and flexible doujutsu."

Shikamaru raised a brow, "I guess you can call it handy, like all doujutsu," he sighed and looked around, "I wonder why Sasuke hasn't appeared yet."

Naruto shrugged and propped his head onto his hand. Suddenly, he felt a quick, almost unnoticeable, wave of familiar chakra signatures and looked at the arena.

Genma sighed in annoyance, by petition of the Kazekage and the crowds, Hokage-sama ordered him to wait five more minutes for the Uchiha to appear or he'll finally be disqualified. As soon as he was going to declare the boy disqualified, a poof of smoke appeared in front of him and saw the familiar anti-gravity silver hair of the always late Hatake Kakashi and beside him the Uchiha who was _almost_ taken from the Finals.

"Kakashi-san, Sasuke-san, you came right before you would be declared out of the Finals. You better thank the extended time for your arrival or else you would have to wait till next Exams," said the senbon wielding brunette.

Kakashi gave an eye smile and rubbed the back of his head, "Well, we didn't mean to, but well, here he is," he looked at his student, "Ready, Sasuke?"

The Uchiha, with noticeably longer hair, nodded and looked towards the balcony and scanned for a specific face, when he found him, he smirked, '_So, Naruto-niisan survived the first round.'_

The Jounin disappeared in a swirl of leaves and Genma cleared his throat. "Alright, final match of the first round: Sabaku no Gaara versus Uchiha Sasuke."

In a swirl of sand, the Suna red head dissolved from the balcony and appeared in front of the proctor, his emotionless face seemed to light up in a sadistic way when he faced the Uchiha, looking at him hungrily. '_Okaasama, the Uchiha's blood will be yours soon.'_

Genma sensed the otherworldly killer intent emanating from the Suna kid that made him feel unnerved. Swallowing his emotion, he stared at the unfazed Uchiha and called the match. "Hajime!"

They stared at each other, scowls adorning both faces. A smirk, then appeared on the raven headed boy and he disappeared from the sleep deprived nin. Sasuke demonstrated that his speed was greatly amplified to the point that when Gaara's possessed sand went to defend his oncoming attack, he'd change course and went past his ultimate defense. The sand simply couldn't keep up and that made Gaara frustrated with his opponent.

"Oh yes, Okaasama, his blood is surely worth the fight," he talked to himself and his lips curled into a psychotic smile. He turned where the Uchiha was only to see a dust settling after his rushed movements. Anticipating his next move, he quickly turned and his sand managed to trap his leg.

Sasuke struggled to free his leg from the sand and surveyed his surroundings. Quickly, he made a hand seal and used Kawarimi on a fallen branch opposite from Gaara's position. '_It's too early to do this but I think if I get him with this it'll be over quicker. He's a threat.'_ He made three familiar hand seals and clenched his right wrist as it started gathering chakra, manipulating it into its thunder affinity. "Chidori," he whispered the name and began racing towards the red head.

Gaara glared at his opponent and was taken aback by his 'mother's actions when the sand started encasing him. '_Okaasama, what are you doing?'_

'_**You should stop worrying, gaki! Let me do what I must do.'**_

'_I can still take him on!'_

'_**NO!'**_

The internal struggle made him grip his head as it threatened to split in two. Without his command, the sand enveloped him into a cocoon, but it wasn't as fast as the Uchiha and was struck on the ribs with the Chidori. He saw his own blood oozing and staining his clothes, he panicked.

"This is _my_ blood?" he started yelling as the sand rejected Sasuke's hand and threw him hard against the sandy floor. "You'll pay back with **YOURS!"** he yelled as he gave in to his tenant's rage and a monstrous hand emerged from the cocoon to take Sasuke by the neck.

Naruto stood up and gripped the balcony's rails as he stared at the match. "He's going to get himself killed! Why hasn't Genma called the match?" He clenched his teeth as Sasuke was sent flying towards the concrete walls of the stadium. He took a glance at the Suna siblings and noticed their fear hidden behind cold expressions.

Suddenly, a large explosion was heard in the top levels where the Kages were. He looked towards the crowd and noticed everyone was asleep.

"It's an invasion! Naruto, Hinata, Shino, let's go!" called Shikamaru as he was quick to jump out of the balcony and went to find their sensei.

Naruto took a quick detour and went to pick up Sasuke.

"Naruto? What's happening?"

"Invasion… someone's placed every citizen in a genjutsu and something's happening up with the Kages."

Sasuke stood up and noted that his blonde 'brother' wasn't wearing his coat, but decided it was a matter for another time.

A small swirl of leaves fell next to them and there appeared Kakashi. "Naruto, Sasuke, I need you to go after the Gaara kid, he's dangerous and is probably the biggest threat of their invasion. Naruto, you know why. Go after him!" he said and noticed the approaching enemy that was armed with a katana. "GO!"

They nodded and jumped out of the way from the fight between Konoha and Suna allied with Oto. Most Chuunin are quickly evacuating the villagers from the stadium, while Genin prepared the safe houses and fetched the citizen's that were in their homes. The rest of the Jounin, skilled Chuunin, and ANBU were fairing off the enemy nins.

The Uzumaki and Uchiha ran out of the stadium where a large hole was made from the explosion, and followed the faint trail of sand into the surrounding forest.

"They've got a few minutes ahead of us," Sasuke calculated, "We'll need to get to them faster and stop them!"

Naruto looked at Sasuke, who looked back with confusion. "We'll get them quicker by air! Let's go!" he jumped and spread his wings, taking Sasuke's arm and dragged him up.

"Naruto, don't ever do that again!" Sasuke yelled at the blonde while hanging for dear life.

He grinned but remained silent as he scanned the trees and the raven haired did the same with his Sharingan activated.

"There!" Sasuke called out, his eyes focused on a canopy hidden by the top branches of a tree.

Following Sasuke's direction he landed right across the tree where the Sabaku siblings rested. The blonde teen and the black clad boy's faces quickly changed into surprise and panic, while they stood in front of Gaara's unconscious form.

"Why did you follow us?" Temari asked defensively.

"You three were running away and we could just let you go while your country is invading us!" Sasuke retorted.

The kunoichi clenched her jaw and held her battle fan tightly, "Well, if you want to capture us, you'll have to fight me first!"

She froze before she could even move to fight them, and whirled around to see Gaara open his pale green eyes and stare coldly at her.

"Get out of my way!" he growled, "They are mine!" He shoved Temari to the side, where Kankuro caught her before she fell to the ground 10 feet below.

"So we'll be finishing our fight here, huh?" Sasuke smirked at the red head, who had plastered on a psychotic smile as the sand poured out of his gourd.

"We have to be careful, Sasuke. He's dangerous, so don't ever let your guard down!" Naruto exclaimed as he lowered into a fighting stance beside the raven haired boy.

He nodded, but was startled when the Sabaku appeared with a fist reared and aimed to his face. He barely dodged it and activated his Sharingan.

"Gaara, stop it now!" Temari yelled from a higher branch, but he ignored her pleas and kept fighting.

Naruto attempted at sweep kick, but the sand around him clutched his feet and threw him at a nearby tree, and began falling, but before he hit the ground he glided and flapped his wings to go back up.

Meanwhile, after watching Naruto just crash onto a tree and fall, Sasuke charged at the boy encased in sand, on his hand was a charged Raikiri. Gaara's face lit with glee as the Uchiha charge with that attack once again, but he was determined to stop and kill him to partly sate his Mother's blood thirst.

"Raikiri!" he yelled as he thrust the lightning blade at the red head and with a smirk hidden oh his face, he used his speed to appear behind the boy and stuck the blade onto his back.

Gaara bellowed in pain as blood oozed from his back, but his sand quickly took care of the Uchiha, taking him by his wrist and whipped him various times at the branch beneath. He turned around at the sound of flapping wings and saw as the blonde glared at him.

"Why are you attacking everybody? Did something so horrible happen that you became just like Shukaku, a killer? You have a brother and a sister who love you, but you never show them what they deserve. I am like you in a way but I don't have real siblings, just a really good best friend who I think deserves to be as if he were my brother. I cannot just stand here and let you kill people," Naruto glared, his cerulean eyes slowly changing into red ones that shimmer like blood.

Gaara growled as the sand latched onto his right arm and right side of the face, deforming it to look like a partial Shukaku, including the diamond pupil yellow eyes. "**Okaasama will also have your blood!" **He thrust his demonic arm at the winged blonde.

Naruto held off the attack with his arms and struggled to not be overwhelmed by the demonic killer intent. He tried to push back, but then a weird feeling crept in the back of his mind and made him shiver slightly.

"**Gaki, I'll be taking over now, this is something I have to settle between me and my foolish little brother."**

/ What? Ugh, what are you doing? /

Naruto gripped his head as it began to hurt as if it was splitting in two, and the demonic sand arm threw him aside and concentrated back on the Uchiha.

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled as the blonde hit the branch with a deafening boom and heard the distinct crack of the wings bones breaking along with a few ribs. He looked forward only to see the demonic hand get a grip on his neck and pressed him against the trunk.

"**Now you'll die slowly!"**

- Seal mind scape -

Naruto runs up to the golden bars and saw the Kyuubi emanating excessive amount of youki into his system.

"Just what the heck are you doing, you dumb fur ball!" he yelled at the towering kitsune.

"**I've got a score to settle with Shukaku. If you didn't know better, it's called sibling rivalry in an extreme way. And that bastard has gotten in my territory various times and has destroyed at least 3 of my villages, which do not exist today because of him."**

"And you're gonna settle it by giving him a beating? That's real mature, Kyuubi!"

"**I don't care how you view it, but that's how it's done between Youkai," **the kitsune looked down at the small blonde and the older one was leaning against the cage, listening in, "**If you don't want me to do this, how about we negotiate? I will have your body for the awaited fight against Shukaku, and I help you find your father's body. How does that sound?"**

Placing his hand beneath his chin, Naruto began to think about the offer. It sounded well enough, his fight for a better nose to find his father's body... The kitsune never go down on their word, so it's a deal.

"You've got yourself a deal, Kyuubi."

"**It's gonna be great how long I have waited for this day!" **it roared in a fit of evil laughter.

"_**Are you sure, musuko?"**_ Minato looked at his son, only to receive back a fox-like grin.

"If it's to look for you faster, then yes!" he kept his grin.

The older blonde smiled back and nodded.

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A/N: So how was it? Did it come out well? It took me a while to know what to write but I think I did well for having such a horrible Writer's Block and laziness. Well, I'm not up for much talking, but I do want to say (because I'm excited with it still) that I got a tragus piercing! Its really cool so if anyone wants to get it I recommend it... even if I am a wuss for needles I didn't feel it, the only pain there is the effin clam that grabs the little cartilage.

Enough about my personal rambling. R&R!

I hope you all had a great Summer. July is almost done and school starts second week of August... hell yeah, I'm a senior!

- BloodKitsune11


	27. Chapter 27

First of all, PLEASE, DON'T BLAME ME! I know that I didn't ever mean to stretch this update soooooo long! I lost my internet, so yeah, I'm using my aunt's which I go to when classes start and I rarely take my laptop with me to school because I almost literally walk through the whole building and I don't wanna have two heavy bags with me all the time while carrying my already heavy Pre-Calculus book. So, today I risked it.

But I guess you're getting a surprise cuz I wrote two chapters! YES, TWO! This is the normal length one and the other is a bit shorter. I hope its worth your wait because I was getting really distressed with no internet and no updates for my fanfic. So, yeah, I'll shut up now.

Disclaimer: **[School is having a really slow start even with already taking 2 tests and making an essay on Beowulf's epic poem.**

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Sasuke's strength was failing him, the demonic arm gripping his throat tightly. He saw as it, no longer could he say the red-head was human enough, single handedly batted aside his siblings when they decided to try and get their brother out of his manic state. Again and again he too was fighting against the Curse Mark from gaining control of himself and was almost convinced that he should use it to pry himself off from the death grip and check on Naruto.

Suddenly a flare of chakra came from Sasuke's right, his head twitched to that side as his eyes widen. Gaara's eyes followed the flare and found the winged blonde standing once again with a red chakra licking his body like flames. Gold tanuki eyes met with red kitsune eyes.

**"****Shukaku, come out, we've got a score to settle!"** yelled the booming voice of the Kyuubi from Naruto's mouth, fangs poking out it a crude grin.

"Naruto!" called out Sasuke's strained voice.

**"****Uchiha, this is not the blonde friend of yours for the moment. I know he hasn't told you and he didn't want you to find out this way, but we made a deal. The kit is my host. I am sure you can figure out who I am,"** he gave another toothy grin and his cold red eyes focused on the red head.

Sasuke's eyes widened and let a sudden yelp as the demonic arm let go of him, making him fall onto the branch under him.

Gaara's eyes glazed over, both eyes bleeding into the same gold eyes of the tanuki. **"****Ah, Kyuubi, we meet again. It's been what, some 100, 200 years, right?"**

**"****It's been exactly 103 years, little brother. Three times you've trespassed into my territory and destroyed something mine, not a fourth time!"** he growled.

The tanuki cackled and the sand began covering the rest of his body, making a replica of his original one. **"****Why don't we take this fight down to the ground, ne?"** he eyed the blonde and jumped down.

"Kyuubi…" the raven haired boy said, but was cut off by the loud feral growling emanating from the kitsune's throat.

**"****Do not interrupt our fight, I'm sure the kit wouldn't take it well if you died,"** he took off after the Ichibi, two chakra tails growing simultaneously.

The tanuki's eyes focused on his older brother's Jinchuuriki's borrowed body, **"****So, why don't we do this the right way? Our original forms so we can go all out."**

The Kyuubi kept silent, but slowly gained his tails, the fourth one was growing and it immediately made the blonde's skin peel and wings shed their feathers, revealing the powerful red youki skin. The others grew quickly as he forced his gathered youki to make the process faster and be ready to fight with his annoying one-tailed brother. As the ninth tail grew, his crimson pelt covered all the lean, strong muscle and his large scarlet eyes glared at the tanuki.

The two Bijuu towered over the giant forest, and with a loud bellow they charged. The large Ichibi resorted to his old tactics of wind bullets and doton techniques, while Kyuubi used his cunning and speed, as well as his vast knowledge of all elements.

Kyuubi dodged another wind bullet and clawed the back of the sandy body, large chunks poured on the ground below them which regenerated quickly. He grinned evilly as the tanuki eyed him with something akin to fear. He lunged after him, using enough force to tumble the large sand demon. Using his tails to pin down the limbs, he bit down at the neck, making the black blood ooze freely.

Shukaku yelled, he felt his control over the sand slip slowly, his own blood staining the earth. **'**_**If I could land just one technique now, maybe that'll get the stupid fox running.'**_

Kyuubi had torn out the outer sand armor that the tanuki had and exposed the flesh, but he felt its stomach swell, and heard the hurried swirl of wind elemental chakra. He clenched his teeth and tried to pull away and noticed that the sand was anchoring him. At point blank, he received a supercharged wind bullet. The sand let him go and he stumbled backwards, growling as the skin and fur of his face regenerated quickly.

**"****What happened, Kyuu-nii… can't take a little wind to your face?" **Shukaku cackled.

Kyuubi growled angrily, **"****You pest! You will quickly learn to respect me and my territory!" ** Not waiting for a response from the tanuki, his snout opened and concentrated chakra on his throat. As the tanuki tried to find a way to knock the kitsune off of concentration for his infamous attack, he failed to remember how quickly that attack was prepared. **"****Kitsune-hi!"**

The furious red flames shot out of his throat and engulfed the tanuki as his screams filled the air around them. Once the flames no longer flowed from the fox's snout, he shot forward and slashed at the crystallized Ichibi, destroying its body and left the head for last.

**"****You will no longer come over to my territory and control your Jinchuuriki like you have done, or face my wrath to its complete extent,"** he paused and saw the fearful golden eyes of the sandy head, **"****You will let him sleep, and if I hear that you have taken over him while he slept, I will make arrangements with whatever torture I want for you."**

Shukaku felt as if he were looking at the face of his ultimate death, but nodded if he could, **"****O-of course, Kyuubi…" **he said nothing else, knowing that if he talked more, unspeakable things would happen, like he once saw when the Gobi underestimated Kyuubi's control of the elements… it didn't end well.

He felt the claws of the kitsune let go and, without a second thought, he receded back inside the seal while all the sand compacted and fell around the now unconscious body of Gaara.

Kyuubi looked around the forest and saw the damage their fight had done. Getting ready to go back behind the seal, he sat and closed his eyes in concentration, but felt tiny footsteps running up his back.

**"****Uchiha… what do you want?"** he growled.

"Kyuubi… are you the reason why my parents told me to be away from Naruto?" Sasuke said as he stopped atop the kitsune's snout, looking into its red eyes.

**"****I am… but the all of the ningen are stupid to believe I would simply take over the kit and destroy them. I would never do that to my own territory and I cannot because of the seal. I'm here only because of a deal we made."**

A frown curled his lips, "A deal?"

**"****Yes, and I wouldn't pry deeper than that, gaki."** The Kyuubi glared. **"****Now get off of me if you don't want to burn with my youki."**

Sasuke, even if confused as to why would he be burned, jumped off the fox's snout onto the closest tree and saw as the kitsune's tails receded into the body and it began to burn off the skin and everything under it, leaving the swirling blood chakra. The body shrank and slowly skin began to cover the youki and bones shot out of its back, slowly recreating the black wings. After a rather painful transformation, Naruto fell onto the ground face down.

From the few trees around the Bijuu's battle that remained upright, even if a bit shaken, Temari, Kankuro, and Sasuke ran down towards both Jinchuuriki.

"Naruto!" Sasuke said as he placed a hand on his neck and check if his pulse was normal.

"Hey, Sasuke…" Naruto said as he swiveled his head to look at the Uchiha.

"Are you okay? Why did you let the Kyuubi out of the seal?"

The blonde slowly pushed himself up and rubbed his head. "Yeah, I'm fine and, well, like Kyuubi said, it was a deal we made."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed and looked elsewhere. "Why don't you tell me?"

Naruto stood up wobbly, but managed to keep himself up. "It's just… too complicated… I don't know how you would take it," the frown on his face seemed out of place.

The raven haired boy didn't like the feeling he was getting from it. "Will you tell me… later?"

Cerulean eyes peered into charcoal eyes and nodded in agreement. A groan took them away from each other and saw the red head waking up in the arms of his siblings. "You…" he eyed the blonde, "You befriended your demon… how?"

Naruto flashed a small smile, "I talk to him. I didn't let his evil thoughts attack me when I was younger so I heard his voice constantly. Even when I was little, I was given hate by the villagers, but I didn't let that get to me and I embraced the few happy memories. That fuels me, and in turn makes the Kyuubi see another point of view. When I met him, it was like he already knew me in a sort of cruel-like way. It's love."

Gaara's pale green eyes widened, "Love?"

"Yeah, I found all the love I could from my friends, but you have something much closer. You have your brother and sister."

The red head looked at Temari and Kankuro, and did something they never thought he would in a million years: he hugged them, or at least tried to, and mumbled a 'thank you' before the fatigue caught up to him and fell asleep in their arms.

They both looked at each other wondering if they're supposed to be worried or happy. Either way, they marveled that he even attempted to give them a "hug". Looking at the blonde, their eyes showed extreme appreciation as they picked up their youngest sibling, propping him onto Kankuro's arms.

Naruto leaned against a snapped tree with splinters crowning its ripped trunk. / Kyuubi-sama, send for Hinata-chan… I don't think I can stay up much longer and someone needs to escort the siblings so they aren't mistaken for enemies. /

**"****Will do, kit. After this I'll be resting as well, I wasted a lot of my energy with my stupid brother."**

/ Thanks. /

Naruto closed his eyes and slowly slid down onto the ground, but Sasuke took his shoulder and leaned the blonde's limp body against his, making sure he didn't fall.

Sasuke looked at the trio and with still worried eyes, he pointed back to Konoha's direction, "Let's go, we should get them to the hospital."

The siblings nodded and began walking behind the Uchiha, but they quickly called for him to stop when they sensed a much stronger chakra signature alongside a Genin, maybe low-Chuunin level chakra. From the debris of fallen trees and dirt arrived Jiraiya and Hinata.

"Sasuke-san, is Naruto-kun alright?" said the exiled Hyuuga as she ran over towards him while Jiraiya went towards the Suna siblings.

He nodded and looked at the limp head of the blonde, his tangled hair falling over his face, and his whole body was covered in grime.

"Come on, we have to get both to the hospital," Jiraiya said, as he started walking out towards Konoha, everyone following him with hurried steps.

It wasn't long till they reached the village, there was some damage here and there, but the shinobi maintained most of the battles inside the stadium, but they still haven't heard from Sandaime-sama, which was unnerving for most civilians and shinobi alike. They walked into the hospital, its walls sustained minimal damage, nothing a little bit of patching and painting could fix.

Quickly, they were greeted with the nurse, who escorted them to a room with two empty beds. In one, they placed the blonde and made a quick check for injuries or wounds, but found nothing except a few cracked ribs and bruises. Gaara, however, was in a bit worse situation, but nothing too extreme. With his fast healing, he was left on the bed with only a broken arm, bruised ribs, and a slightly deep, long cut where the Chidori had hit him during his match with the Uchiha.

"Sasuke?" the soft whispering voice of Hinata was barely heard.

The raven haired looked at her from his chair next to Naruto's bed. "Yes?"

She leaned against the wall beside him, "What happened while you were in the forest? The place seemed to be destroyed as if a great battle happened."

Sasuke looked at her, those lilac eyes filled with concern. "Gaara and Naruto fought," he said, not wanting anyone to know about the Kyuubi and the Ichibi's fight and how Naruto and Gaara were their containers, respectively.

"It was the Kyuubi, wasn't it?" she whispered.

His onyx eyes widened, "How did you know?"

"He linked Naruto's and mine's mind scape. It was because of him I survived the injuries from the Preliminaries," she looked at him, "I know he wanted to tell you, but he said that he would when the time was right. He didn't want to lose your friendship, your strong bonds."

He stayed silent, absorbing that piece of information, "Do you know what Kyuubi's deal for using Naruto's body was?"

She shook her head no, "I have no idea, but it must have been something really important."

Just then, the blonde opened his eyes, but snapped them shut when the light overwhelmed his sight. He, then, slowly opened them, and looked at Sasuke and Hinata beside his bed.

"Naruto-kun, how do you feel?" the indigo haired girl said.

He replied with a smile, "I'm feeling better, I guess."

"Naruto," Sasuke said, gaining his attention, "What was the deal between you and the Kyuubi?"

His azure eyes dulled, his lips tightened into a thin line, before looking at the other side of the room where Gaara was and his siblings were nowhere to be seen. "Anyone of you know a seal or a jutsu to make the room sound proof?"

Sasuke nodded and made a few quick hand seals, a semi-invisible barrier appeared around them and disappeared.

"So… the deal… well, like I said, I don't know how you'll take it, Sasuke-niisan," he sighed, "Kyuubi-sama and I made a deal that I would lend him my body to fight with Shukaku if he agreed to help me find the body of my father."

Hinata and Sasuke widened their eyes, but Hinata was curious as to why would they be looking for Yondaime-sama's body if he was simply an entity in Naruto's mind scape.

"Your father?" Sasuke asked hesitantly.

"Yes, you see, my father was also sealed inside with Kyuubi and now that his soul is recovered completely, he can regain his life if we find his body."

"So, with Kyuubi's help, you'll be able to find your father's body and he would live again?"

The blonde nodded, but his eyes widened when Sasuke did something he hadn't done in years, definitely not what he expected to happen. He was laughing as tears full of happiness fell from his eyes.

"Sasuke?" he asked concerned.

Sasuke stifled his tears, and looked at him with a true smile, "I'm happy, Niisan, that you'll finally see your father in real life soon… I would love to meet him and see if he's as great as you."

Naruto smiled back, "I'm sure he'll like you too."

Suddenly, the whole building shook as a loud explosion sounded not too far, the sound proof barrier popped and they looked out of the window to see a large column of smoke rise from the coliseum.

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A/N: On to the next one. ;D

- BloodKitsune11


	28. Chapter 28

Okay, here is the next chapter.

Disclaimer: **[I bet you liked that I updated two chapters at the same time. =]**

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"Kakashi, retreat, and go look for your students!" Gai yelled as he scanned the battle field for any more opponents.

The silver haired Jounin nodded and waved at the Green Beast. He quickly ran out of the coliseum and used his sense of smell to track down his students. First off, Sakura, she was running towards the hospital.

"Sakura, where's the rush?" he used his calm appearance to calm himself.

The pink haired Genin turned towards him, "Kakashi-sensei, you're okay!" he could see the relief in her eyes, "Well, I heard that Sasuke-kun and Naruto are in the hospital."

He nodded and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Well, let's not keep them waiting." He shunshined with her inside the hospital lobby and quickly ran towards the nearest nurse.

"Nurse, do you know which room are Naruto and Sasuke?" Sakura asked quickly.

The woman looked at the clipboard on her hands and scanned over the names, "Ah, there's a Naruto in room 262, he was being accompanied by a Hyuuga and Uchiha Sasuke."

"Thanks!" Sakura quickly ran through the corridors and up stairs, Kakashi walking lazily behind her.

Suddenly, the whole building shook and a loud explosion penetrated the silence of the hospital. They could hear the concerned murmurs of the patients in their rooms. Quickly they ran to the room where their teammates were placed.

"Naruto, Sasuke!" Kakashi called when he opened the door.

"Kakashi-sensei, do you know what's happening at the coliseum?" asked Sasuke pointing outside the window where the column of smoke rose up into the cloudy sky.

The silver haired Jounin looked out of the window and saw the smoke, "This is not good," he mused and heard a shift in the air.

"Kakashi-senpai," a voice rang behind the Jounin, his hand crossed over his chest in salute.

Kakashi turned towards the ANBU that called behind him and saluted as well, "What is it Neko-san?"

The Cat masked ANBU bowed, "Senpai, Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen has died in battle."

The Genin's eyes widened when they heard those words echo in their ears.

"No, NO! Jiji cannot be dead!" Naruto yelled devastated.

Neko turned to him, sadness laced in his voice, "I'm sorry, Uzumaki-san, but Orochimaru managed to somehow kill him in their struggle. The man is now on the run once again."

Kakashi stared at the blonde, knowing that he looked up to Hiruzen as a grandfather and now he died by the hands of that snake bastard. Naruto's eyes were wide with shock, tears running freely down his face, his hands tightened into fists.

- **One Day later **-

The whole village gathered at the cemetery, all dressed in black kimono and yukata, and mourned the death of their elder Hokage. Many had laid a white rose upon his grave, but the last words were said by his son, Sarutobi Asuma and his grandson Sarutobi Konohamaru. They finished the gathering shortly and everyone left.

Naruto remained in front of the grave with something on his hands. He was dressed in a black yukata which had a hole on its back to make way for the wings, and wooden sandals on his aching feet. Looking down at the object on his hands, he made a silent prayer and placed it, the Hokage's favorite pipe, on the grave. A hand rested on his shoulder, suddenly, and he lifted his eyes to see who was still there, it was Kakashi.

"Let it all out," he said simply and hugged the blonde as he broke down and cried.

The Hatake rubbed his back in gentle circles and the crying eased. "Come on. Let's get out of this rain."

Naruto nodded silently and walked behind the Jounin sensei. They made their way down the street and walked up to a building not far from the book store next to the convenient store. Kakashi opened the door and led him inside.

"Why don't you go take a hot shower and I'll fetch you some fresh clothing? I'm going to make some hot chocolate, too," Kakashi suggested.

"Sure," Naruto replied numbly. He sighed and walked over to the bathroom of his sensei's simple apartment. He grabbed a towel and walked in towards the shower. He turned it on at the hottest it could go and peeled off his wet yukata.

Kakashi heard the bathroom door close and placed a pair of sweat pants and a black shirt on his bed. He stared at the pictures atop his bed's headboard. "Minato-sensei, if you were alive you would know what to do this very moment. I'm trying to compensate for the time I didn't search for him for my own selfish means, but this is proving to be quite difficult," he sighed and looked at his Team 7 photo, "When you all make Chuunin, I will take a new picture… definitely," he chuckled.

He changed into warmer clothing and walked to the kitchen to make hot chocolate. He readily made the recipe, '_Just like Rin-chan used to make it,'_ he thought and smiled at the memories that flashed before his eyes. He was so focused on what he was doing that he didn't hear as the shower turned off and the door opened up to reveal a Naruto wrapped in a towel.

"Kakashi-sensei?" he called.

The silver-haired turned at his name being called and saw the blonde, "Oh, Naruto, I placed some clothes I found on my bed. My room is the one at the end of the hall."

Naruto nodded and walked toward the room. It was hard to believe it was so tidy, but he guessed it was because he was barely there because of all the missions and training. He picked up the clothes and began to place them on. He was amused to see that Kakashi took his time to make a big enough hole on the back of the shirt to fit the wings.

As he finished placing on his cloths, he looked at the headboard and saw two pictures: one was the familiar Team 7 photo, but the other one consisted of another 4 people. He took the picture in his hands and examined it. There was Kakashi as a kid who had an arrogant expression on his face, beside him was a black haired kid with orange goggles on, making the peace sign at the camera, in front of both boys was a red haired girl with a purple marking on each cheek, and just behind the three with his arms crossed wearing a charcoal gray trench coat was a blonde haired man with azure eyes, who looked vaguely familiar.

**"_M_**_**y Team's photo,"**_ Minato responded the unsaid question on Naruto's head.

/ Wait, that's you? And you were Kakashi-sensei's sensei? / Naruto exclaimed.

**"**_**Yeah, he**__** was quite the kid back then, now he's really laid back, much like his teammate. I guess it suits him considering that both of his teammates died in war and then I died that night…"**_

Naruto didn't reply, but place the picture back onto the headboard. He turned around and was startled to see the very one he was talking about carrying two cups of hot chocolate.

"I see you saw my Team's photo, ne?" Kakashi said and handed the blonde one of the cups.

"What were your teammate's names?" he asked.

Kakashi sat beside the blonde and looked at the picture. "The one standing beside me is Uchiha Obito. He was my best friend and rival, and just when we had settled our differences, he died while we were on a mission. His entire right side was crushed under a large rock; his last wishes were for me to defend our teammate and to have his Sharingan transplanted into my eye socket.

"The kunoichi of our team, Rin, she was like the mother hen, always looking out for us, and scolding us for whatever reason Obito and I fought over. I remember she had a crush on me when we first met, but then she started falling for Obito, knowing that I wouldn't want to be in a relationship, and Obito was always there to listen to her.

"And our sensei, Namikaze Minato, he was sincerely the most amazing man I have ever met. He was always trying to make me get along with Obito. He always had this warm smile on his face, but the only times it would ever disappear from his face would be on times when he got really serious. I guess his charm and all his determination and kindness is why he got the position as Yondaime Hokage."

Naruto smiled for the first time since the funeral. "I bet it would've been great to meet them."

Kakashi looked at the blonde and ruffled his hair with a smile tugging at his mask, "I bet they would've loved you."

They sipped their chocolate in a comfortable silence and Kakashi glanced at his alarm clock. "Well, Naruto-kun, I need to get you home. It's getting quite late."

Naruto nodded and stood up. Kakashi took both cups and placed them on the sink and returned to lead his student safely to his home. They walked out to the deserted streets and remained in their silence as they heard the gutters empty out the water they carried. They stopped in front of the old building where Naruto's apartment lies in.

"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei, for everything," Naruto said.

He eye smiled at him in reply and said, "Stay safe, now go inside before you catch a cold."

The blonde nodded with a grin and ran up to his apartment, closing his door behind to let the warmth stay inside.

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A/N: I know! I think its good that I was able to upload these two chapters to compensate for the long ass wait. I know it must have been really tiring for you guys to wait for so long, but I swear I won't try to take that long to upload the other chapters, but I won't guarantee anything yet because of school. Its been really fast paced this year and I guess its more because we're the school's first Senior year since more than a decade.

Anyway, I know you don't wanna know about personal life, but, yeah, I guess that's all... OH YEAH! I may not upload much because I'm still new to it, but I created a DeviantArt so I can maybe upload some pics for fanfic or just simply my doodles or something. Here: bloodkitsune11 (dot) deviantart (dot) com ... And yes, that girl in the profile is me. ^w^

- BloodKitsune11


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